Mining company Lynas Rare Earths has inaugurated its A$800m ($525m) Kalgoorlie rare earths processing facility in Western Australia.

The opening ceremony was attended by Australian Resources Minister Madeleine King, alongside Lynas Rare Earths Board chair John Humphrey and managing director and CEO Amanda Lacaze.

Lacaze said: “This was an ambitious project, which established downstream rare earths processing in Australia for the first time. It was a foundational project for our Lynas 2025 growth strategy and a significant financial investment for Lynas and our shareholders.

“I am proud of the way our team embraced the challenge. We have created a state-of-the-art rare earths processing facility and a new, future-facing industry for the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.”

The Kalgoorlie rare earths processing facility plays a central role in Lynas' growth strategy for 2025, which was initially revealed in May 2019.

The company noted that the project was completed in less than two and a half years following the receipt of full construction approvals.

The facility has been designed to process the rare earth concentrate from the Mt Weld mine and is capable of accepting third party feedstock from other projects when they start operations.

The rare earths concentrate moves via a cracking and leaching process to produce a mixed rare earths carbonate that can be processed additionally into separated rare earth materials at facilities near Lynas customers.

Lacaze added: “As the only significant ex-China producer of separated rare earths, Lynas plays an important role in the global rare earths supply chain.

“The mixed rare earth carbonate produced in Kalgoorlie is shipped to our Malaysian facility for separation into individual products, and in future will supply our planned US facility.

“We thank the Australian Government, the Western Australian Government and the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder for their support in the development of the Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility.”

In April this year, Gina Rinehart, Australia's wealthiest individual, increased her mining holdings by acquiring a share in Lynas Rare Earths via her company, Hancock Prospecting.