Rare earths miner Lynas has added another A$70-million to the final cost estimate of its delayed Kalgoorlie processing facility, with the full cost now set to come in at A$800-million.

This compares with the August 2023 budget of A$730-million and is now A$300-million more than the original price tag of A$500-million.

In its quarterly update on Tuesday, Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze reported that commissioning and initial production activities were ongoing, following the first feed of material from Mt Weld in December.

She stated that the introduction of concentrate into the process had informed additional works and activities. This included enhanced electrical back-up systems following a major electricity outage in January, further testing of loading and unloading systems and additional testing of the flowsheet.

She also reported that the Mt Weld expansion project remained on schedule, with construction activities progressing as planned.

Structural, mechanical, piping and electrical works on Stage 1 were well advanced. Lacaze said the energisation and commissioning of the Stage 1 circuit would start over the next few months, and the Stage 1 circuit would initially be tied into the existing operation.

“A staged commissioning approach reduces commissioning risk and enables a step-up in production capacity in the latter part of this calendar year whilst the remainder of the plant is constructed.”

Construction of Stage 2 is also ramping up. All long lead time equipment are on site, including grinding mills and flotation cells. Concrete works are advancing and SMP works will start in late April.

Manwhile, Lynas reported “excellent” production rages, with total rare earth oxide production of 4 348 t, including neodymium and praseodymium production of 1 725 t.

“Our Malaysian team managed a very successful production ramp-up after the significant upgrade works which were completed in the previous quarter,” Lacaze said.