Lynas Rare Earths has landed a court date to challenge the operating licence conditions affecting its Malaysian operations. 

It comes after the Malaysian government imposed conditions on the operating licence that will prohibit Lynas from importing or processing lanthanide concentrate after January 1 2024.

Lynas has been lobbying to remove the licence conditions, which will also prohibit cracking and leaching rare earths at the facility.

The January deadline was extended from July, which has given Lynas more time to get its Kalgoorlie rare earths processing facility up and running amid labour and cost pressures. 

Lynas said it had commenced the kiln heating cycle at the new Kalgoorlie facility, which escalated to cost $780 million in August, in a step towards first production. 

The miner told the market in its quarterly report that it had secured a court hearing in November.

“Lynas has now received leave from the High Court to proceed,” Lynas said in an ASX statement. 

“An application for a stay to allow Lynas to operate on a normal basis while the administrative and legal appeals are heard and decided has been listed for hearing in November 2023.”

Chief executive Amanda Lacaze said there would be a planned shutdown of all operations in Malaysia apart from mixed rare earth carbonate processing starting mid-November in the December quarter. 

Ms Lacaze said during the shutdown, key Malaysian C&L personnel would be deployed to assist with the start-up process in Kalgoorlie. 

The miner is also planning to upgrade its downstream operations in Malaysia to increase proaction capacity, which it said was essential in the event the operating licence is updated.

“In the event that does not occur, the capacity will still be required as Kalgoorlie ramps up to its nameplate capacity,” Ms Lacaze said.

Meanwhile, the miner recorded lower sales revenue of $128.5 million, which it said reflected lower rare earths prices. 

It recorded NdPr production of 1,526 tonnes, due to planned and delayed preventative maintenance works at the C&L plant in Malaysia.