Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name's John Humphrey, and I'm the Chair of the Board of Lynas Rare Earths. I'm pleased to welcome so many of you here today to this annual general meeting of the company. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet today, the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, as well as the traditional owners of the lands on which we work, live, and meet in the eastern goldfields of Western Australia. We pay our respects to elders past and present, and extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending the meeting today. I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all shareholders joining us today, both in person and online. Ladies and gentlemen, today's AGM is being filmed, and it is being live-streamed via the internet. Details are available on the Lynas website.
When we come to the Q&A section of the AGM, we will take written and audio questions from shareholders joining us online, as well as questions from shareholders in the room. Online attendees can submit questions via the Lumi platform at any time. Voting today will be conducted by way of a poll on all items of business. Online voting will shortly open for all resolutions. At that time, if you are eligible to vote at this meeting, a new vote tab will appear. Selecting this tab will bring up a list of resolutions and present you with voting options to cast your vote. Simply select one of the options. You do not need to hit a submit or enter button, as the vote is automatically recorded. However, you have the ability to change your vote up until the time I declare that voting is closed.
I now declare voting open on all items of business. The voting tab will soon appear, and I will provide notice before I move to close voting at the end of this meeting. For information on how to submit a question or vote, please refer to the Lumi platform user guide on our shared registry website or in the document tab of the Lumi webcast platform. I would now like to introduce my fellow directors. Joining me here today are our Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Amanda Lacaze, and Non-Executive Directors, John Beevers, Philippe Etienne, Grant Murdoch, and Kathleen Bozanic. Vanessa Guthrie is joining us online today and can't be here because of family circumstances. If you have joined online, you will see Vanessa on screen, while shareholders in the room will hear Vanessa via audio.
We are also pleased to be joined by Sarah Leonard, our General Counsel and Company Secretary. Our audit firm, Ernst & Young, is represented by Trevor Hammond, partner, who is also here in the room with us today to answer any questions you might have relating to the audit. I understand that all shareholders present have registered with our share registry Boardroom before the meeting. The notice of meeting was dispatched to shareholders on 27 October 2025, and accordingly, this meeting is deemed to have been properly convened. We have a quorum of more than two shareholders, and accordingly, the meeting is able to transact the formal business as set out in the notice of motion. Before we proceed with the formal business of the meeting, I will make a short address, after which Amanda Lacaze will deliver the CEO presentation. We will then table the FY 2025 financial statements.
At that point, we will pause for any questions on Amanda's presentation and the financial statements. After questions, we will continue with the formal business of the meeting. There will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions on specific resolutions. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's great to see so many of you here joining us today, both in person and online. As you will all be aware, 2025 has been an exciting year for both the rare earths industry and for Lynas. The year marked the end of the five-year Lynas 2025 growth strategy. Major projects at Kalgoorlie and the expansion of Mt Weld were largely completed during the year, and notably, we produced our first dysprosium and terbium oxides at Lynas Malaysia in Kuantan. As our Lynas 2025 strategy wraps up, our operational footprint is now larger and future-fit as the market continues to grow.
Where to from here? As shareholders know, during the year, we developed our plans for the next phase of our company's development and released those plans to the market in our Towards 2030 strategy. The new strategy release was done in conjunction with an AUD 930 million capital raise through an institutional placement and a very well-supported shareholder purchase plan. The capital raising gives us the balance sheet strength to support our strategic growth ambition. This year saw the rapid evolution of the outside China rare earths market. The capital investment made over the past five years has ensured we are well positioned to optimize assets and to capture value for our shareholders.
Shareholders will be pleased to know that the board will consider the issue of distributions in conjunction with finalization of the half-yearly accounts in February 2026. Lynas's leadership position in the outside China market also enables constructive engagement with governments around the world as they develop policies and implement actions to develop and expand the current non-China rare earths supply chains. The Towards 2030 strategy announced in August sets out our plan to deliver returns from existing assets and to develop new growth opportunities. Initiatives include adding resource and scale, increasing downstream capacity for heavy rare earths and NdPr separation, and expanding into the outside China metal and magnets market. The project delivered as part of the Lynas 2025 initiative provided the foundation for our Towards 2030 strategy, and Amanda will shortly provide you an update on the strategy and recent developments in her CEO presentation.
From a financial perspective, performance was affected by investment in new facilities and new products, as well as the low rare earth market price that prevailed during most of the 2025 financial year. Profit after tax, or NPAT, of AUD 8 million was delivered for FY 2025, and the annual revenue increased to AUD 556 million, primarily as a result of increased NdPr production and sales. Operationally, the team delivered a number of significant achievements. During the year, this included safety improvements with good progress on the total recordable injury frequency rate, although there was a slight increase in the lost time injury frequency rate. Pleasingly, sales volumes of 6,555 tons for the high-value NdPr product family increased by 18%, while total REO sales volume reduced by 10% to 10,970 tons, as we reduced production of the lower value lanthanum and cerium products.
During the year, the average China domestic price of NdPr, VAT excluded, increased from AUD 44 a kilo in June 2024 to AUD 55 a kilo in June 2025. After a sustained period of low market prices, the upward movement towards the end of the June 2025 quarter has continued into the 2026 financial year. Turning to operations, in Kalgoorlie, the new rare earth processing facility is now producing mixed rare earth carbonate, or MREC, which we ship to Lynas for separation into individual rare earth products. The support of experts from our Lynas Malaysia team continues to be instrumental in the ramp-up and flowsheet improvements we have made. The team should be proud of the progress that they have made over the year. Considerable progress has been made. The Mt Weld expansion is largely complete, with the processing plant fully commissioned, with excellent progress being made on the hybrid power station.
The gas and solar components of the power station were constructed, and gas was commissioned in the September 2025 quarter. Solar was commissioned, and our four wind turbines have been constructed and are currently being progressively commissioned. The new power station has already proven its ability to run solely on renewable energy when conditions are favorable. In Malaysia, upgrades to the Advanced Materials Plant have created an expanded facility with additional processors commissioned and operating an MREC receivable, solvent extraction, and product finishing. Work to increase the nameplate production capacity has been completed, and as I've previously noted, the first production of separated dysprosium and terbium oxide was achieved during the year in May and June. The production of separated heavy rare earth oxide at Lynas Malaysia marked an important milestone not just for Lynas, but for the global manufacturing supply chains.
Lynas is now the only commercial producer of separated heavy rare earth oxides outside of China. In Malaysia, the solar array was commissioned and began operating in FY 2025, and 60,000 MW hours of renewable electricity was recorded in that financial year. Recently, I was pleased to join Amanda and the leadership team in Malaysia celebrating our 15-year anniversary of the start of construction of the Lynas Malaysia Advanced Materials Plant. This was a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the past 15 years and acknowledge the contributions of people who have been instrumental to our success over the period. Last month, the board was pleased to appoint Kathleen Conlon as a new non-executive director. Kathleen is based in Western Australia and has over 30 years' experience as a finance professional in the resources sector.
This industry and financial expertise will be an asset to Lynas as we enter our next phase of growth with the Towards 2030 strategy. Welcome, Kathleen. Lynas is proud of our position as the market leader in responsibly produced separated rare earths. As we embark on our Towards 2030 strategy, we remain focused on ensuring Lynas's operations are safe for our people, the community, and the environment. We believe it's important to continue to transparently report on our sustainability performance through our annual sustainability report. The report is available on our website at lynasrareearths.com. If you haven't already read the report, I encourage you to do so and welcome your feedback. In closing, on behalf of the board, I would like to thank Amanda and the executive team for their leadership during the year. I also thank the entire Lynas team for their contribution to Lynas's success in 2025.
I would also like to thank all of our shareholders for your continued support. The board remains focused on creating value for all shareholders and looks forward to further developing our business. I would now like to invite the main show, Amanda, to address the meeting.
Good morning, everybody. Thank you, John, for all of those kind words. I will probably cover some of the areas that John has at least sketched out in his speech. Today marks my 12th AGM as CEO of Lynas, and they said it wouldn't last. In fact, our business is in the best shape that it has ever been, as no doubt you would hope after all of that hard work. As John said, we recently had our 15-year party in Malaysia. You all missed it. We did some excellent dancing.
You know, I had to teach the locals actually how to do the nut bush, but it all went down very well. It is 15 years from the first construction in Malaysia and 15 years from the first commissioning of the concentrator in Mt Weld. Then we were a startup seeking to establish a business requiring the application of complex and challenging and unknown technology in a market where I think, Paul, it would suffice to say we were not welcome. It is so pleasing. It was so pleasing at that party to see so many of our people, suppliers, customers, and partners who had been with us for each of those 15 years. That extends to the joy of seeing so many of you here today. You have been our greatest supporters, and I look forward to every year having the opportunity to see you again.
This year, unfortunately, we said goodbye to one of our most ardent supporters, but I am pleased to see so many of you still here this year. Today, our operating assets are in place, able to serve today's demand and ready to serve tomorrow's demand. We have strong customer relationships. We are a trusted supplier of quality products. We have a skilled and competent workforce. Our people know how to operate our assets and are committed to the success of our business. We have a strong balance sheet, which is future fit. A far cry from our early days, I still carry in my heart the wound of being described as a debt-ridden basket case. For all of you who have stayed with Lynas since those first milestones 15 years ago, thank you.
We are future fit because of your continued support, most recently with our capital raise in August. The support from our shareholders, particularly our retail shareholders, fortifies our determination to deliver outstanding results from our current investments and to continue to pursue opportunities to grow our business. John has already provided you with some of the highlights of FY 2025. I will provide a little more detail. In 2025, we could genuinely say, was the year that geopolitics really came to town in the rare earths market. Sometimes the analysts complain that we will not provide detailed guidance on Lynas's performance. When you look at the various actions that have shaped the market in 2025, our choice seems sensible. Governments now understand the importance of rare earths today and the expected growth in demand over the next decade.
They are now looking for security of supply and finally recognizing that the highly concentrated market, dominated by the Chinese, is not healthy. Various governments have developed and are implementing new policies to address these issues. This particular set of exciting challenges started in April with Liberation Day in the U.S. and then some further discussions with the Chinese. It was the first application of tariffs by the U.S., and it was the first response from the Chinese, with, at that stage, a number of non-price controls in the market. That was followed up in July by the really industry-shaping deal that the U.S. government did with MP Materials, which included, it was quite breathtaking, really, in its breadth and its scope, including equity, debt, and most importantly, some price support, which really has changed the dynamics in the market in a number of ways.
That was followed then by some further non-price restrictions from the Chinese, you know, bat the ball backwards and forwards, which have now been put slightly in abeyance. It is well worth noting that those which were announced in April remain in effect. Most recently, a number of bilateral agreements which have been signed between the U.S., Australia, and Australia, the U.S. and Malaysia, and the U.S. and Japan. Our job at Lynas, apart from actually running our assets, is to navigate away through these changes and to take advantage of the opportunities that they present and step over the potholes because some of them can be remarkably deep. We are in the best shape ever to take advantage of the opportunities and confident of our head start versus others who might choose to operate in this market.
In 2025, we delivered a number of significant achievements. We expanded our operating footprint at Mt Weld. We call it an expansion, but fundamentally, we have rebuilt the Mt Weld concentrator and operations there. As our general manager said, I thought rather poetically, the old plant has been able to retire with distinction. Wouldn't we all like that described about ourselves at some stage? The old plant, which is a really small plant, has served us very well for a decade. Now we are reusing some of those assets, but the new plant, the new AUD 500 million facility, is now operating for us. The Kalgoorlie facility is ramping up this year. Paul and his team have done a lot to really enhance the original design there to improve some of the flowsheet operations, operating efficiency.
Of course, everybody knows that we're just ready to really hit our straps. Then Western Power gave us sort of the gift of really quite some significant power outages, which has made it quite difficult this quarter. In Lynas Malaysia, we have expanded the facility and done so incredibly cost-effectively. That is the benefit of being able to do an expansion on a brownfield site. In terms of growing with the market, the first separation of dysprosium and terbium in Malaysia is a matter which I think is really quite amazing what the team has managed to do. When we put in the changes to the flowsheet to be able to do 10,500 tons of NdPr, we did put in some new mixed settlers, and we freed up one of the separation trains that we had had previously.
Paul's team said, "Oh, well, there's some kit. We should use that a bit wisely, shouldn't we?" and refurbished it, put in place, and we started separating the Dy and the Tb. We often joke about the fact that in 2014 and 2015, our production was 100% not on time and 100% not on spec. That is a feature of sort of doing something for the first time and having to learn it all for the first time. For the Dy and Tb, it is a matter of a great deal of pride that it has been 100% on time and 100% on spec. Right first time, absolutely. Very, very proud of that. We also upgraded the Mt Weld mineral resource and reserve during this financial year. That is really important.
It means that we continue to have more than 20 years' mine life from Mt Weld, even at our expanded rates. As John has touched on, really developing this sustainable supply chain, including best practice sustainability principles within the business. I will show some photos and talk a little more about our renewable power station at Mt Weld further on. I am really happy to declare victory and move on as far as Lynas 2025 is concerned. We have got a month left in 2025, so it is a good thing, is it not? We have substantially completed all of the tasks in Lynas 2025. You will recall, six years ago, we said, "Oh, what are we going to do?" We are going to increase our nameplate capacity to 10,500 tons a year of NdPr.
To do that, we need to rebuild the concentrator at Mt Weld because we need to process a lot more ore to be able to deliver the feedstock for that. Tick. We're going to build a new facility in Kalgoorlie because we need additional cracking and leaching capacity, and it is sensible to do that as close as possible to the resource. Tick. We're going to upgrade our Lynas Malaysia facility so that it can go from a sort of nameplate, a theoretical nameplate of about 7,000 tons to 10,500 tons. Tick. When you look at some of the aspiring projects in the rare earths market, we have actually done in the last four years effectively from approvals to commissioning what is a whole rare earths project. I am really incredibly proud of the team to have been able to do that.
Now it's where to next. Some more of that as we go on. First of all, just looking at Mt Weld. For any of you who've been at these meetings over the past dozen or so years, you will have seen photos of Mt Weld. You will barely recognize Mt Weld as it is today. Our project manager there, I sometimes tease him that previously we had this mill. What does it do? It does about 40 tons an hour or 34 tons an hour, something like that. Anyway, it's quite a baby mill. When we've had people who come to visit, they look at it and they say, "Oh, that's a mill.
It looks like a pilot plant. I joke that Alex actually went to the mill online catalog, and he picked one of every sort to put it into the new plant. We now have three mills. Why does this matter? It matters because those mills, as they operate, will allow us to process more of the materials, particularly the fine grinding mill, and will allow us to reprocess some of the tailings, bearing in mind that our tailings facilities have about 7% rare earths in them, which makes them the second richest rare earths deposit after the Mt Weld carbonatite. It also means that we are going to be able to improve recoveries. Of course, the other initiatives which are part of this are that we have looked at a number of areas where we can improve cost efficiency. We have taken out some of the manual handling.
Under our previous model, we used to handle the ore five times before it became a concentrate. Now I think we only touch it once, and the rest is automated. We have added efficiency and sustainability into the operations. The final piece of that plant that we are commissioning at present is our water treatment facilities, which will improve our water recycling rates. Of course, water is almost as rare as rare earths out at Mt Weld. Recycling it is an important part of our sustainability approach. We need a lot more power to run the additional mills and also to run the water treatment and water recycling. We no more wanted to burn diesel to do that than the most ardent greenie. I mean, who wants to be burning diesel and creating those sorts of emissions?
We have made alongside our power suppliers the investment in a gas-firmed hybrid renewable power station. There are 2,500 solar panels. It's really pretty cool the way these operate these days. They come and they're like an accordion, and then they put them on the ground and they just open them up like this, and there you are. You've got a solar farm. Maybe not quite, but that's what it looks like to me. It is rather cute. And 2,500 of those and four wind turbines. I have to say when renewable power was first sort of a thought bubble in my head in 2016, when I asked Tony Malik, who's our GM at the time, to start doing some wind and solar surveys, I probably had this vision of a single wind turbine sitting out there.
The reality is much more complex and impressive than that. What is truly impressive, as John said, is that we've already had weeks where we've been able to run the plant 100% on renewable power. That is really very pleasing. We go to Kalgoorlie. This might be my very favorite ever photo of Kalgoorlie. It is so pretty. Probably rather prettier than it is most days. Nonetheless, it's a fabulous picture. It is the first downstream plant here in Australia. As I said, Paul and his team have done a lot to improve and enhance even the initial design as we've gone through the commissioning process. The power issue, the announcement yesterday spoke for itself. We've managed outages at Kalgoorlie ever since the day we started commissioning.
Unfortunately, in the last couple of months, those have reached a stage where it is just not possible for us to manage them and still produce what we need to produce to feed Malaysia. Every time that we have an outage, a short outage, actually a power outage, translates to a long outage in terms of production. The kiln slows down. It takes three or four hours to be able to move it back to where it was. Every outage brings with it some requirements for manual handling for our people that we're not pleased to include in normal duties and additional stress on the equipment that we've just spent so much money on putting on the ground there. I can tell you that the Western Australian government has been particularly responsive on this. We are working to identify, are there solutions with the network?
If not, we will have to put in an off-grid solution. Unfortunately, most likely for us to be able to do it in the short term, it will be diesel. Having just managed to get out of diesel generation at Mt Weld, it will be disappointing to actually have to put that in place in Kalgoorlie. It will be an interim solution only. We will look for a longer-term, probably off-grid solution unless we can agree some very specific changes with Western Power. Our Malaysian plant has already seen many exciting changes. I was just talking to [Bogdan] here. He came to visit the plant in, what, 2016? You'd be hard-pressed to recognize it now. There has been so much sort of additional capability put in place in Malaysia.
As I said earlier, the first dysprosium and terbium separation, which could only be done in a plant like this for the cost and efficiency that we've achieved. The support of our people and our communities remains key to our success and drives our commitment to continue to develop. Many of you probably saw the video of the first Dy and Tb production. When I first saw it, I said, "Oh, gosh, it's so manual." It was like, "No, no. It's just they all wanted to be in the video," right? Which is really a reflection of their commitment to want to be part of something which was so exciting for our business. We do continue to focus on the U.S., where both supply and demand side policies are reshaping the market.
I thought we would just share with you these are ads which, if you go to Washington and you wander through either Reagan or Dulles Airports, you will see these, as we hope will many American politicians as well. As they consider further enhancement of their policies, I got a bit frustrated at one stage when there was talk about annexing countries and all those sorts of things. It's like, "If you need rare earths, call 1-800-Lynas." We're maybe not quite as brutal on 1-800-Lynas, but essentially what we've got is these which will roll through on those digital billboards which basically says Lynas can deliver and what the U.S. needs today. Lynas 2025, tick, big tick.
As many of you who participated in the August capital raise would know, we then launched our very creatively titled, Daniel and I spent a long time on this, Towards 2030 Strategy. We felt that Lynas 2030 just did not have quite the same ring to it. This is about the strategy over the next five years, about making sure that we do deliver the benefits from Lynas 2025. In the last five years, we have spent about AUD 1.5 billion on fundamentally improving our operating assets. We are not going to be one of those companies that spends all of the money and then says, "Oops, here is a nice pretty pony over here.
Let's now focus on that and lose the focus on delivering the return on the investments that have already been made. We have the opportunity with those investments to continue to grow and to preserve our first mover advantage. We also have the opportunity and the balance sheet to allow us to grow in other areas, including via partnerships into downstream metal and magnet making, and also by looking at additional resources, particularly those which will have more heavies within the resource. I will finish my presentation where I started. We have the assets and the skills to meet the market today and into the future. Your support five years ago enabled the Lynas 2025 investments and has allowed us to retain our leading ex-China position. Our experience allows us to engage with governments with credibility as we seek to develop the outside China industry.
Our new Towards 2030 strategy sees us continue to grow our core business and grow into new activities. At the 2011 AGM, where some of you may have been, the Lynas chairman commented that this was a time when there is, without a doubt, a crisis in the global supply of rare earths. There is also a major restructuring of the global rare earths industry underway, both in China and the rest of the world. History has a habit of repeating itself. Those words are as relevant today as they were then. The difference is that today, Lynas is a proven and profitable producer of both light and heavy rare earths, ready as always to bank the value of the improving market. Our position today is a triumph of vision, discipline, innovation, creativity, and determination over a huge number of challenges faced along the way.
We face the future with excitement and with the same determination we've brought to it over the last 15 years, committed to ensuring that Lynas is famous all over the world as the source of the best rare earths that money can buy.
Thank you, Amanda. I will now table the financial statements for the company for the year ending 30 June 2025, consisting of the annual financial report, the director's report, and the auditor's report. The annual report was dispatched with notice of this meeting to those shareholders who requested a hard copy. An electronic copy was sent by email to shareholders with an email address and made available on the ASX website at the company's website. We would now like to ask for questions on Amanda's presentation and the financial statements. A reminder that only shareholders, proxy holders, and authorized representatives can ask questions.
To ensure there is an opportunity for everyone to ask questions, there will be a limit of two questions per shareholder during each Q&A session. Proxy holders, please state your name and that you are a proxy holder. Shareholders joining online can ask a question by selecting the messaging tab at the top of the Lumi platform. For more information on how to ask a question, please refer to the documents tab on the webcast. For shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question, please form a queue behind the microphone at the front of the room. Yes, ma'am.
Yeah. Is that on?
Yes. Yep.
Hello, my name is Helen Manning, and I represent the Australian Shareholders Association. Today, I'm stepping in for my colleagues, Len Roy and Julieanne Mills, both of whom have done the hard work I haven't.
They wish to heartily thank the board for the time they have made available before this AGM, and we discuss matters arising from the annual report. These matters include financial statements, operational performance, and governance matters. Today, we're holding proxies for approximately 6,000 shareholders, totaling about 600,000 shares. Following Amanda's very vigorous presentation, I think we're just going to continue that theme. It's always good to acknowledge achievements, and I've been told specifically to note the following. It's a bit of repetition. The first is that the Kalgoorlie facility continues to ramp up to nameplate capacity. Well done. The second is that the Malaysian output now includes heavy rare earth oxides, Dy and Tb, with the new AUD 180 million facility, which will ramp up early next year. Well done. That Lynas has achieved record NdPr production at a time when NdPr pricing has been on the rise.
Well done. Good news in stabilizing the supply of sulfuric acid with BHP. We also wish to laud the high-level working relationships Lynas Rare Earths has built with its U.S., Japanese, Korean, and Malaysian authorities to pursue partnerships in the metal magnet supply chains. Well done. Looking ahead, we acknowledge the Towards 2030 strategy, sorry, which includes the construction of the Seadrift, Texas Heavy Rare Earths Processing Plant based on feedstock from Mt Weld and Kalgoorlie. We do note that the U.S. Department of Defense funding grant has been increased from the initial AUD 120 million to the updated AUD 258 million. However, the off-take agreement is still pending. We appreciate the sensitivity, but ask if you can update us on the finalization of the off-take agreement. Can you talk to this, please? Thank you.
Amanda.
Thank you very much for all of the positive feedback.
My colleagues on the executive team, a number of them are here today in the front row, as well as Sarah. I ensure that they will happily take those positive comments back to our teams because it is always good to hear that. The U.S., you will not be surprised that I will not provide a chapter of this on the negotiations with the U.S. government, apart from anything else, because it does change fairly frequently. Suffice to say that we are working on it very closely with now the Department of War. However, we are not relying on the government to access the U.S. market. Chris Jenney, who heads up our sales team, is actually also very focused on dealing with the end-use customers in the U.S. because their influence on the government is important as well.
John and I talk every week, and every week he says, "Well, have you got something to deliver yet?" I keep saying, "No, but it should be next week, John." We haven't got there quite yet, but I can assure you that it is a matter of focus.
Thanks, Hel. Bob Richardson, private shareholder. Congratulations, Amanda and the team, for a tremendous performance to 2025. My question relates to the next five years. You referred today to defending Japan's market share in relation to 2030. I'm assuming that the Texas plant might be off. It appears that the U.S. is not supporting Lynas to the extent that we expected. It also seems that Lynas is pivoting to Japan, Korea, and possibly the EU.
We know that for the medium term, it's only Lynas and China, especially for heavy rare earths, and La Rochelle appears to be servicing the EU. Do you expect the U.S. price floors to be influential over the next few years?
Thanks, Bob. You have a number of direct and a number of implied questions in that, I think. I think the first thing to say would be today, close to 100% of rare earth magnets are made in China and Japan, not in the U.S.. Therefore, our direct customers are actually in East Asia. Our relationship with Japan has always been at the heart of the success of our business. There is one competitor, which is MP Materials, who is producing some separated NdPr oxide.
When we talk about ensuring that we retain what is a hard-fought position as the leading supplier of NdPr to Japan, that is what we speak to. A little bit of that's priced. A lot of it has to do with being a reliable supplier of quality materials, and indeed, supplying materials that others cannot produce. Now, whether that's Dy or Tb or separated Nd, which no one else actually does, everybody else provides it as NdPr, these are all opportunities for us to differentiate ourselves. You're right. MP has got a better deal out of the U.S. than we have because they have this one major benefit. They're American. We're not. We need to recognize and acknowledge that we will never get the same treatment in an America-first environment politically, which is what is there at present.
On the other hand, the American market, there are elements of it which are attractive, but it does not have the substance that, for example, the Japanese market has today, or the absolute commitment and determination to develop skills and competencies that, for example, the Koreans have. I would not completely agree in terms of priority, but you are right. We are focused on Japan. We are focused on Korea. We are focused on the EU. We are focused on the U.S.. Actually, we are focused on engagement with the Australian government as well. Really getting a combination of benefits out of all of those relationships is what I think will give us some really solid foundations moving forward.
The AUD 110 floor price, we put very strongly to all governments that it is excellent that there is support for projects which may or may not come online in 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, whatever, how many years it takes them. There is a functioning supply chain today where at the center of that, we require the right sort of air cover to ensure that this functioning supply chain continues to operate.
Thank you.
[Chris Beavin] representing [Kathy Laney, Super] and Bancroft Capital. Two questions for Amanda. The first question is in respect of the 8 October announcement of the MOU with Noveon Magnetics in the United States. Question one is, if and when over the next few years there is an Australian magnet-making plant in Australia, will Lynas enter into a similar arrangement with an Australian magnet maker? I've just been told to speak closer to the microphone.
Thanks for the question, Chris. It's an interesting question in its formation because the assumption that there may or may not be an Australian magnet maker is a very big assumption. One of the things that you need to make metal and magnets is reliable power, reliable power, with then sort of the second benefit being low cost. Right? Unfortunately, across a whole variety of areas, it's not just because we're in Kalgoorlie. I was recently reading in WA about in Kwinana, they've put in diesel gensets to a number of the operations there. We would see that it is less likely that there will be a magnet maker here in Australia. We do see that there are, I think, Chris, what, seven or eight new magnet-making projects sort of globally.
We are engaged with each of them on opportunities to partner in one or other forms, whether it is simply as a supplier of feedstock or whether, as with the case of Noveon, we are looking for, is there a joint venture model which may be suitable?
To understand, the answer to question one is, if an Australian plant became operational, you would deal with it on the same basis as Noveon.
Sure.
All right.
Question two is, if in about 12 months' time, the current suspension by China of its embargo, that's its list, its critical minerals embargo list with global critical minerals imports and exports, is enlivened again after the current suspension for 12 months due to the U.S. trade deal, what, if any, response would Lynas make to that, having regard to the impact it would have on China as a market for both oxides and magnets?
Our assumption today is that this is just a hiatus in terms of some of those controls. When we think about things like the price support agreement, effectively, as the price moves up, China's pricing power, which has been exercised quite extensively over sort of our time in the market, is reduced. However, China is very nuanced and very skilled at developing somewhat more sophisticated non-price controls than we necessarily see elsewhere.
The licensing regime, as it was introduced in April, continues to be in place. That certainly means that there are a number of customers who are unlikely to be able to source rare earths or rare earths-containing materials from China in the future. That is an excellent target for us in terms of business development. A number of the areas which are part of the Chinese controls, some of which were announced in October and some of which they are not resiling from, include things like prohibition on the export of technology, on the export of certain inputs to rare earths processing, whether it is reagents, whether it is equipment. Our experience is that there is no stepping back from those.
We have a team who's worked since April on ensuring that we have alternate supply chains available to us for materials that we have to date sourced from Chinese suppliers. We are confident that we are in a position to continue our operations even if the new regulations come back in in a fortified sense.
Thank you for your candid answers.
Thanks, Chris.
My name is [Robert Keogh]. I'm a private shareholder with my wife. Thirty years ago, when I had responsibility for the Mt Weld lease on behalf of CSPP, I was advised that at least a holder of the pastoral lease that covers that area had collected, wherever he found them, traditional owner artifacts and buried them. My question is, in your mining, exploration, and other activities, have you ever encountered any of these materials?
Do you have protocols to manage that in the event that you do?
Okay. Thanks for the question, Robert. Our objective is always to not just be respectful of the traditional owners on the lands on which we operate, but actually to constructively engage with them. The Nyalpa Pirniku, who are the traditional owners in the area in which we operate, we have engaged with them over many years, even though their claim was only validated this financial year. Yeah, it was earlier this year. We have engaged with them and had them come in and do a number of cultural surveys of the area. I had never heard about things being buried specifically, but they have done a number of cultural surveys. We have a social, cultural, and heritage management plan with the Nyalpa Pirniku.
In fact, they have advised us that as they've done these, essentially, our land was what they call walk-through territory. It is less likely to have some of the sort of artifacts that you might find in other areas. We are proud of the fact that we have a number of our contractors, not just indigenous-owned businesses, but our traditional owners. Our mining contractor, Carey Mining, is owned by Nyalpa Pirniku, as well as some of the activities that we have in Kalgoorlie, where our contractors are also businesses which are owned by members of the Nyalpa Pirniku. We have not heard of that specifically, but we have done a number of cultural surveys and would be surprised if we suddenly happened upon a case of artifacts.
Thank you. Stephen Fawerty, shareholder.
I'm just wondering, with our competitors napping at our heels, how long does it take from the time you find a viable deposit until it gets into production? Our journey has been long, but maybe it's shorter now. I don't know.
Thank you for the question, Stephen. At this International Rare Earths Conference that we were at recently in Kuala Lumpur, there was an industry engineer who had done a study on actually critical minerals processing facilities and had compared them against something called a McNulty curve, which talks about how long it takes you to get from this is forgetting the exploration, but from you've built a plant and getting it up to nameplate. The McNulty curve has four layers. The lowest takes forever, and the highest is a very fast move-up.
Lynas in Malaysia started for the first two years, I think, that we were even lower than McNulty 4, but then stepped up to McNulty 1. The interesting thing is that his assessment was that all of the projects which are sort of being promoted around the place, they all assume a McNulty 1 startup, which no critical minerals processor anywhere in the world has ever achieved. If they've got something which says we're going to have separated material in three years' time, I'm not actually losing a lot of sleep on it right now. Thank you.
Jen, Sarah, are there any online questions? Sorry.
My name is [Hacklow], shareholder. Thank you, Amanda, for such an informative presentation. Would you also like to say a few words about how Lynas is addressing environmental issues, both in the mining and refining and concentrating aspects?
Sure.
As I said, the very initial vision for Lynas was a global firm that processed rare earths on a sustainable basis. Sustainability sits at the heart of everything that we think about, whether it is things like the significant investment that we've made in the power station at Mt Weld, or in our management practices with respect to the residues that we produce at any of our sites. It is actually a matter of a great deal of frustration for us that still there are journalists who will write that it's inevitable that you produce toxic residues. It's not inevitable. It is like any industrial activity. You can choose to do it in a way that is sustainable, or you can choose to do it in a way that is not.
In China, 20 years ago, you could have gone and visited a rare earths plant, a steelmaking plant, a coal plant, and you could have found practices that were not sustainable. Today, if you go to China, you will see that many of those have been addressed. The rare earths industry has suffered from this sort of being a badge that has been applied to the industry, which is not true. At Lynas, at our heart, we seek to be safe for our people, safe for our communities, safe for our environment. We have never been involved in a major public health event. Our philosophy is about ensuring that we manage our processes and we manage our residues accordingly. Zero harm means that there is no way for them to actually sort of leave our operations.
It is absolutely at the core of everything we do.
I have read in the news a few years ago, specifically in Malaysia, you have some problem with pollution from the government or from environmental.
Yes. With due respect to some of the journalists in the room today, you cannot believe everything you read in the newspaper. In Malaysia, we have a number of regulations. We have been subject to three different external reviews of our operations, which have found in each instance that we are compliant with regulations and that we voluntarily adopt international best practice where local regulations are not as significant as elsewhere and not at best practice. In terms of the way that we manage in Malaysia, as I said, we manage aligned to regulations.
The issue that many like to talk about is the level of naturally occurring radioactive material, either in the material or in the residue. It is a feature of the fact that Mt Weld is dated as being about 2 billion years old, that the radioactivity associated with our materials is classified as very low level. That is in the feedstock. It is also in the residue. It compares, so it is at about six becquerels per gram. To put that into perspective, that is not far off what you might get in the tiles that you have in your kitchen, for example.
Thank you. Got it.
Sarah, Jen, online questions.
Thank you, Chair. We do have four online questions. The first one is from Hilarion Investment Corporation. Can we please get an update of Seadrift in Texas?
Seems to be at a standstill, most likely held up by bureaucracy. Has Lynas been superseded by MP Materials, and when do we expect this to be rectified, please?
Amanda?
Oh, I thought you could take it out. Isn't it time we did some work, girls? Isn't this just what we live with every day?
Yeah. Okay. I'll take that. Shareholders will have seen that in the presentation that accompanied our successful capital raising in August, that one of the things that we revealed was that due to issues we were experiencing with the site in Seadrift, it was possible that the Seadrift facility would not proceed. The update is that the resolution of those issues hasn't progressed. I think it is unlikely that the proposed facility will proceed.
Thank you, Chair. The next question comes from Mr. Stephen Maine.
Thank you for expanding the AUD 75 million share purchase plan and accepting all AUD 182 million in applications. How hard did you market this offer, which was 23% in the money on the day the shares were issued? He has gone on to suggest some reasons.
We were pleased to offer shareholders the opportunity to purchase shares in conjunction with the institutional placement. I think investors will know that often the quantum of shares made available to shareholders under the share purchase plans is constrained. On the basis that we have done a number of capital raisings, we elected as a board and were pleased to elect as a board that we should not constrain the applications under the share purchase plan. Valid applications were all issued. We did not market the plan hard. That is not the idea of these shareholder purchase plans.
The idea is to give shareholders, many of you who have been with us for an extended period of time, as we've heard, the opportunity to acquire shares. On behalf of the board, and especially on behalf of Amanda, it was very pleasing to see the level of support that was experienced. I think initially we thought that that support level might be AUD 75 million-AUD 100 million, but it was considerably greater than that, and that was very gratifying.
Thank you, Chair. The next question is on the remuneration report from Mr. Stephen Maine. Thank you for disclosing the proxy position early to the ASX along with the formal addresses and well done in receiving such strong support on all resolutions. The annual report says we have 47,176 shareholders. Did even 2% of them vote?
When disclosing the outcome of voting on all resolutions today, but particularly this remuneration report item, could you please advise the ASX how many shareholders voted for and against each item similar to with a scheme of arrangement?
I'll take that. I'll take that on notice.
Thank you, Chair. The next question comes from Hilarion Investment Corporation. Given the speculation as to the merger of Lynas and MP Materials earlier in the year, has this venture been closed, or is there still a possibility of this being renewed given the strategic advantage of Lynas in conjunction with the domestic advantages that MP enjoys in America?
Yeah, I think the timeframe in the question is slightly out. That may have been 18 months to two years ago. There are no current dialogue at the moment between Lynas and MP.
These combinations can raise their head at any time because they involve a number of parties, and we could be approached at any time by any of these parties, either by MP or other entities. That's always a possibility, but there are no discussions currently on foot.
Thank you, Chair. That's the last online question.
Yeah, Bob's down here wondering whether he wants to do something to incur my wrath. Yeah. He's brave. He was in the Air Force for a long time.
Thank you, Bob Richardson. One of my investor colleagues of a long duration has texted me to say that I've just lost the question, that there was a reference to separating gamma drop there.
That's okay. We'll assume you've asked the question, and we'll say you got a satisfactory answer.
At the land, you were going to separate thorium for the WLP.
I haven't heard any more about that. Is there anything you could enlighten us about?
We have a commitment and have invested over the last three years up to 1% of our revenue in research, with a key investment being in thorium extraction. We have proven that it can be done at bench scale and at a small-scale pilot plant at ANSTO. To take that further, we would need to be doing much larger industrial-scale trials, and we would need to do sort of some quite substantial modifications on the plant. The process brings with it benefits. It also brings with it costs. Ultimately, we will need to make a determination and some challenges because instead of dealing with this very low-level radioactive material, we end up creating a much higher pure thorium product, which requires additional handling and management. The project is ongoing.
We have a commitment and have invested over the last three years up to 1% of our revenue in research, with a key investment being in thorium extraction. We have proven that it can be done at bench scale and at a small-scale pilot plant at ANSTO. To take that further, we would need to be doing much larger industrial-scale trials, and we would need to do sort of some quite substantial modifications on the plant. The process brings with it benefits. It also brings with it costs. Ultimately, we will need to make a determination and some challenges because instead of dealing with this very low-level radioactive material, we end up creating a much higher pure thorium product, which requires additional handling and management. The project is ongoing.
Most recently, just last month, we had a technical conference in Kuala Lumpur, which was attended by about 500 people, including a lot of the academic community, on opportunities to continue to develop and invest in methodologies and mechanisms for management, not just of WLP, but for other, like Malaysia is seeking to develop its own ionic clays, which also come with radioactivity, actually at a much higher level than ours, alongside those materials. Did you want to add anything to that, Bob?
Yeah. Did I ask about resurrecting [condy] soil?
Yes. It still remains that the concept of [condy] soil, which was approved by all Malaysian relevant government departments, is consistent with the IAEA's guidelines on how to deal with residues of the sort that we produce at Lynas Malaysia.
However, that ship has largely sailed because we have invested in the construction and operation of the permanent disposal facility for the WLP, which is now substantially complete. It is fully complete in terms of construction, but now almost substantially complete in terms of the depositing of the material into that. It is a permanent facility. We will not be digging it out again.
Thanks, Bob. Are there any further questions?
Chairman, we just have one further online question, which is, is the issue about power outages related to renewable energy issues?
Not to our knowledge. It is a combination of both a generation and a network issue at Kalgoorlie. For those who know, Kalgoorlie is on the end of a single high-voltage power line.
That constrains the amount of energy which can be delivered, but there are also issues associated with the amount of energy which is available within the network. We do not see it being associated with the source of the energy. It is primarily a networking issue.
Thank you. As there are no further questions at this stage, we will proceed with the formal business of the meeting. Attendees in the room will have received one of the following cards upon registration: blue, which is for voting shareholders; orange, which is for non-voting shareholders; and white, which is for guests. Each resolution will be discussed and then voted on by way of a poll. Details of the proxies received for each resolution will be shown on the screen prior to each resolution being put to the meeting.
As stated on the proxy form, I will vote undirected proxies in favor of each resolution. Each shareholder who is present in person and who is eligible to vote at today's meeting will have received a blue-colored voting card from the registration desk. At the conclusion of the meeting, representatives of Boardroom will collect these cards. The notice of meeting having been duly distributed to all shareholders will be taken as read. After each resolution is tabled, I will ask for questions from shareholders online and shareholders in the room. Resolution one seeks approval of the 2025 REM report, which is set out in the company's annual report. The remuneration report sets out specific details of the company's remuneration framework during the year ended 30 June 2025. Proxies received for resolution one regarding the remuneration report are now shown on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution?
If there are no questions, I now put the resolution to the meeting for voting by way of a poll. On resolution, the text of resolution one is shown on the screen. Has everybody had a chance? We will now move to resolution two. Resolution two relates to the re-election of Vanessa Guthrie. The board values Vanessa's contribution and experience, and the board members other than Vanessa unanimously support the re-election of Vanessa to the board. Details of Vanessa's background and experience are set out in the explanatory memorandum and on the screen. The proxies for this resolution are also shown on the screen. I would now like to invite Vanessa to briefly address the meeting.
Thank you, John, and good morning, fellow shareholders. Firstly, my apologies for not attending our AGM in person today.
I have had an urgent family medical issue arise yesterday, and I therefore need to be with my husband. I am joining you online instead, and I thank you for your understanding. I would also like to thank you for your support of Lynas, our board, and for me as a director for the past five years. In my time on our board, I have endeavored to bring my 35+ years of experience in mining, minerals processing, and critical minerals to our decision-making, as well as a strong governance lens, including over nine years serving on a variety of ASX-listed companies. As a result, along with my fellow directors in delivering value to Lynas through our growth agenda, I have worked hard to also contribute in four key areas. Firstly, an unflinching focus on the safety and well-being of our people through our EHS committee.
Secondly, the engagement of our employees and retention of key talent as Chair of our Nominations, Remuneration, and Community Committee. In expanding our understanding of the world-class Mt Weld carbonatite type deposit through my deep geological experience. Lastly, the development of our strategy that positions Lynas.
Thanks, Vanessa. Are there any questions on the resolution? If not, I now put.
John. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Yes. Sorry. My sympathies for your family situation, Vanessa. We have asked you, we have noted that you have several board positions, and we were hoping that you might talk to your workload, please. I think she's been kind of. Certainly. Yeah.
Vanessa, do you want to say something? I'd just say in a preliminary way that one of the things that I as Chair monitor is the workloads of my colleagues.
Vanessa's a very hard-working director, has never missed a meeting, and accordingly, we've taken Vanessa's workload into account in framing our support of her re-election. Vanessa, is there anything you'd like to add to that?
Yeah. Thank you, John, and thank you for the question. I'm sure you will have noted my recent appointment to another board. As a result, in the first half of next year, I will be looking at and rationalizing my portfolio to make sure that I have absolutely the time, energy, and commitment and motivation to commit to Lynas as a director.
Thank you. We just wanted to ask the question. Thank you.
Thanks a lot . Are there any further questions? If not, I now put resolution two to the meeting. We'll vote on a poll. The text of resolution two is shown on the screen. I'll now move to resolution three.
Resolution three relates to the proposed election of Kathleen Bozanic. Kathleen joined the board last month and brings over 30 years' experience as a finance professional of listed and private mining and contracting companies. The board, other than Kathleen, unanimously supports her election to the board. Details of Kathleen's background and experience are set out in the explanatory memorandum and on the screen. The proxies for this resolution are also shown on the screen. I would now like to invite Kathleen to briefly address the meeting.
Thank you, John, and good morning, everybody. I'm honored and excited to have the opportunity to join the board of your company and to work with the talented and experienced group of directors and executives at Lynas. Lynas is an exciting, dynamic company with huge potential, and I believe in its strategy and the impact it can have on a global stage.
Given it's the first time you've probably got to hear from me or meet me, I'll give you a little bit about my experience that's relevant to Lynas. As John said, I've been working for more than 30 years as a financial professional in mining, contracting, engineering, and construction businesses, including as a partner of Deloitte, an executive and a non-executive director. During this period, I've gained a wide range of experience, including all aspects of finance and governance, capital management and allocation, risk, strategy, investor relations, and IT. I've also run a large construction project. Further, I have experience in critical minerals and downstream chemical processing. I've worked in well-run large businesses with processes and procedures that are needed to safely and effectively execute and grow. I've also been involved in companies with challenges or that have had to mature as they've grown.
I'm passionate about people, and I really love building talented teams that are high-performing. I'm currently the CFO of IGO Limited, but soon to retire. Sorry if that's not heard online, and serve on the boards of WA1 as chair and Rugby Australia. I'm also on the Senate of the University of Western Australia. If I'm successful in gaining your support to continue on the board, I look forward to contributing to building and adding value to Lynas. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak today.
Thank you, Kathleen. Are there any questions on this resolution? If there are no questions, I'll now put resolution three to the meeting for voting by way of a poll. The text of resolution three is shown on the screen. I'll now move to resolution four.
Resolution four relates to the proposed grant of performance rights for the benefit of CEO and Managing Director, Amanda Lacaze. Each performance right is a right to acquire one share in the company in the future. More details regarding the performance rights that are proposed to be issued to Amanda are set out in the explanatory memorandum. Proxies for the resolution are shown on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution?
Just one quick one. What price was assumed for the performance right for the share?
It's contained in the notice of meeting. The rights are calculated using the five-day VWAP following the date of the release of Lynas's FY 2025 financial report, being a price of AUD 14.26 per performance right.
That's the answer. Okay. Are there any further questions? I now put resolution four to the meeting for voting by way of a poll.
The text of resolution four is shown on the screen. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of the meeting. As there are no other items of business that can validly be brought before the meeting, I declare the formal part of the meeting closed. I would now like to complete the poll process and advise that I will close the online voting system in one minute. Please ensure that you have cast your vote on all resolutions. For those shareholders present in the room, the instructions for completing your blue voting card are as follows. First, please write your name in the space provided at the top of the card.
Second, unless you wish to vote a number of shares in one manner and another number of shares in a different manner, clearly mark one only of the boxes on the voting paper next to each of the resolutions. You may vote for or against each resolution. Please sign in the space provided at the foot of the voting card. Finally, please lodge the completed blue card in the ballot boxes that are available at the doors when you exit the room, or please hand your card to a boardroom representative. For shareholders, online voting is now closed. The result of the poll will be announced to the ASX and will be posted on the Lynas website later today. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you once again for attendance at today's meeting and for your continued support of our company. That concludes today's proceedings.
Shareholders in the room today, we hope you'll join for some refreshment in the foyer. Thank you.