As part of the shutdown, Lynas will upgrade its downstream operations at Lynas Malaysia to increase production of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) to about 10,500 tonnes per annum.

This upgrade would be essential if the High Court allowed the continued import and processing of Lanthanide concentrate from January 1, Lynas told the market.

If the court did not endorse Lynas’ position, the extra capacity would still be required to feed its Kalgoorlie plant as it ramped up to its nameplate capacity to produce about 9000tpa NdPr finished product.

The Lynas downstream operations at Kuantan in Malaysia produced 1526 tonnes of NdPr in the September quarter from rare earths mined at Mount Weld in WA.

The average Chinese domestic price of NdPr fell from $US60 ($95) a kilogram in the June quarter to $59 a kilogram in the September quarter, and down from $US94 kilogram in the same period last year.

Lynas’ sales revenue for the quarter was $128.1 million, down from $163.8 million a year ago, and from $143.7 million in the June quarter.

Its share price dropped 1.87 per cent to $6.29.