Lynas Malaysia Advanced Materials Plant (Gebeng)

The Lynas Malaysia plant is the rare earth refinery that Lynas Rare Earths runs on a 100-hectare site in the Gebeng Industrial Estate, a petrochemical zone near Kuantan on the east coast of Malaysia. It turns concentrate from the company's Mount Weld mine in Western Australia into separated rare earth oxides, and Lynas says it has operated since 2012 (Lynas).

How the plant processes rare earths

In cracking and leaching, Mt Weld concentrate is mixed with concentrated sulfuric acid and cracked at high temperature. Water then dissolves the rare earth sulfate, and iron phosphate impurities are removed (Lynas). The plant produces two solid residues: NUF, a magnesium-rich gypsum, and WLP, an iron phosphate material (Lynas).

Solvent extraction then splits out individual elements, and finishing precipitates them as carbonates or oxalates, some calcined into oxides (Lynas). Besides NdPr oxide, the plant first produced dysprosium and terbium oxides in May and June 2025 and samarium oxide in March 2026 (Lynas 2025 Annual Report; Lynas 2026 Annual Report; REEx).

Capacity and status (as of October 2026)

Lynas says upgrades finished in FY25 give the plant 10,500 metric tons a year of nameplate finished NdPr capacity, which it says is not a production target or forecast (Lynas 2025 Annual Report).

The plant was operating as of Lynas's latest annual report, published August 26, 2026. Mt Weld concentrate quality issues affected cracking and leaching productivity in Kuantan in the June 2026 quarter. A heavy rare earth expansion announced in October 2025 is planned for a staged start-up, with gadolinium expected in early FY28 (Lynas 2026 Annual Report).

The Lynas Malaysia license (as of October 2026)

The plant is licensed under Malaysia's Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984, and its conditions have centered on the WLP residue. In February 2023, MOSTI said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board had renewed the license for three years but refused to drop conditions that moved cracking and leaching to Australia, with none at Gebeng after July 2023. The minister said no party has the right to keep producing radioactive waste in Malaysia (MOSTI, February 15, 2023).

Lynas appealed. It said the conditions differed significantly from those under which it decided to invest and did not follow the government's 2018 Executive Review Committee report, the board's audits and three independent reviews (Lynas, May 8, 2023). Variations in May and October 2023 let processing continue, first to January 1, 2024, then to March 2, 2026, with Lynas committing to raise Malaysian R&D spending to 1% of Lynas Malaysia's gross sales (Lynas, May 8, 2023; Lynas 2025 Annual Report).

On March 2, 2026, MOSTI said it had renewed the license through the Atomic Energy Department from March 3, 2026, to March 2, 2036, with a full review after five years. It barred any new permanent disposal facility for WLP above the regulatory limit and said radioactive residue output must stop after the first five years (MOSTI, March 2, 2026). Lynas says it must switch to an alternative cracking process so the plant makes no WLP above 1 Bq/g after March 2, 2031 (Lynas 2026 Annual Report). It says the 10-year term gives it more investment certainty (Lynas, March 2, 2026; REEx).

Feedstock and customers

The plant takes Mt Weld concentrate and mixed rare earth carbonate (Lynas), the carbonate shipped from Lynas's Kalgoorlie facility in Western Australia (Lynas 2025 Annual Report). Lynas says the heavy rare earth expansion will need feedstock beyond Mt Weld to reach its target volumes (Lynas 2026 Annual Report).

In March 2026, Lynas and JARE announced an updated 12-year availability and supply agreement with firm offtake of NdPr and of half of all heavy rare earth oxides, the latter on terms Lynas describes as no opportunity loss to it (Lynas 2026 Annual Report).

Lynas Malaysia plant FAQ