Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Kathleen Conlon, Chairman of Lynas Rare Earths Board. I'm pleased to welcome you 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 people of the Eora Nation, as well as the traditional owners of the lands on which we live, work, 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 or Torres Strait Islander people attending the meeting today. I'd like to extend a warm welcome to shareholders joining us today, both in person and online. Ladies and gentlemen, today's AGM is being filmed and is being live-streamed via the Internet. Details are available on the Lynas website.
When we get to the Q&A sections of the AGM, we will take written and audio questions from shareholders joining us online, as well as questions from shareholders in the room today. Online attendees can submit questions via the Lumi platform at any time. Voting today will be conducted by way of poll on all items of business. Online voting will open shortly for all the resolutions. At that time, if you're eligible to vote at this meeting, a new voting tab will appear. Selecting this tab will bring you up a list of resolutions and present you with the 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 the meeting 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 the meeting. For information on how to submit a question or vote, please refer to the Lumi Platform User Guide on the website or in the Documents 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, Philippe Etienne, Vanessa Guthrie, John Humphrey, and Grant Murdoch. Joining us online is Non-Executive Director, John Beevers. John is unable to join us in person today due to a commitment arranged prior to joining the Lynas board. We are also pleased to be joined by Sarah Leonard, General Counsel and Company Secretary.
Our audit firm, Ernst & Young, is represented by Gavin Buckingham, Partner, who's also here in the room with us today. 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 the October 12th, 2023, and accordingly, this meeting is deemed to have been properly convened. We have a quorum of more than two shareholders, and accordingly, this meeting is able to transact the formal business as set out in the notice of meeting. Before we proceed to the formal business of the meeting -- 2011, I knew this was a company with ambitious and worthy goals: to be the outside China supplier of ethical and responsible rare earth products for current and future technologies.
However, I certainly did not imagine the journey we would go on and the challenges we would need to overcome to hold. In 2023, we have the iPhone 15, as tech-savvy younger generation entering their teens, and the International Energy Agency is expecting the sales of 14 million electric cars this year, which is excellent for us. I'm extremely proud of the company and what we've achieved, and I'm pleased to provide this overview of the 2023 financial year. So 2023 was a productive year for Lynas. The company delivered excellent production outcomes, particularly in the second half of the year. At the same time, good progress was made on key growth projects designed to meet forecast accelerated demand growth for rare earths and deliver long-term shareholder value.
Sales revenue of AUD 739.3 million and net profit after tax, NPAT of AUD 310.7 million, were achieved for FY 2023, and the company recorded a 4% increase in NdPr production year-on-year. These strong financial results were achieved in a year that was marked by external headwinds, including lower market pricing for rare earth products and water supplier issues that limited our first half production in Malaysia. But this was made possible by our team's drive and ability to succeed in challenging conditions. The average China domestic price of NdPr, VAT excluded, decreased during the year from record prices achieved in FY 2022, and future market price trends continue to depend on end product demand and further development of the outside China rare earths market.
This was a significant year for Lynas growth projects, with the construction of the Kalgoorlie Rare Earths Processing Facility largely completely, commissioning underway, and more recently, the kiln heated. In Malaysia, we've constructed a mixed rare earth carbonate receiving facility, or as we call it, MREC, to receive and process the material produced in Kalgoorlie. Following the recent update to the Malaysian operating license, we will be able to process both MREC and lanthanide concentrate at the Lynas Malaysia facility. Amanda will provide more detail in her CEO presentation. In West Australia, the Mount Weld capacity expansion was announced in August 2022 and is progressing well. The Mount Weld project will deliver capacity to produce sufficient concentrate feedstock for production of 12,000 tons per annum of finished NdPr product.
This project includes scale and efficiency improvements and sustainability and circular economy initiatives, including a new gas renewable hybrid power station, improved water recycling, and segregated tailing storage for potential future use. The gas renewable solution will replace the current diesel power station at Mount Weld and will provide benefits, including lower GHG emissions intensity and reduced exposure to fuel markets. An early works contract has been awarded, and contract negotiations are expected to be finalized over the coming months. Design and long-lead procurement activities for the Mount Weld project were undertaken in FY 2023, and early works progressed following final approval of minor preliminary works from the EPA, Environmental Protection Authority, in March 2023. This month, the WA EPA recommended that Mount Weld mine proposal for approval, which is an important step towards full environmental approval. During the year, we also made good progress on our U.S. project.
A greenfield site in an existing industrial zone in Seadrift, Texas was secured for our new U.S. processing facility. The large site will allow for co-location of the heavy rare earths and light rare earths separation plant, as well as potential future growth opportunities such as downstream processing and recycling, to create a circular mined magnet supply chain. On the August 1st, 2023, we announced approximately $258 million follow-on contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for the construction of a heavy rare earths component of the U.S., Lynas U.S. Rare Earths processing facility. The updated contract is an expenditure-based contract under which all of Lynas's properly allocable construction costs will be reimbursed. This contract is separate to the light rare earths contract with the Department of Defense, which was announced in January 2021, which remains on foot.
These projects seek to ensure that your company is well positioned to grow as use accelerates. I'm sure shareholders will be pleased, particularly the ones who were in the room with us 12 years ago, as I am, to see that the company remains in a positive cash position, with a closing cash balance of AUD 903 million at September 30, 2023, to support our growth projects. In capital on execution of major growth projects to ensure Lynas can maintain its share in a growing market. As we bring our major projects in Kalgoorlie, Mount Weld, and Kuantan to a close, we will be announcing an a revised capital management policy, including a dividend policy. As we grow, we seek to increase efficiencies and share learning throughout our operations.
One of the ways that we can do this is through workforce mobility, and it's been very pleasing that we've been able to bring about 30 of our talented Malaysia team to Kalgoorlie to support commissioning and startup of our new facility. We recognize that we operate in a competitive market and providing the career development opportunities is one of the ways we support our people and build up the next generation of leaders. Our company is committed to meeting customer, community, and investor needs for ethically and responsibly produced rare earths. We work closely with our people and our local community to provide opportunities and build shared value. From an environmental, social, and governance perspective, we are focused on transparency and continuous improvement and have provided our latest update in the 2023 ESG report, which is now available on our website.
On behalf of my colleagues on the board, I would like to thank Amanda Lacaze and her executive team, and all of our employees for another excellent year. The board would also like to thank you, our shareholders, for your continued support. We look forward to continuing to build shareholder value and share our progress over the year ahead. In closing, I'd like to say that it's been an absolute privilege to have been part of the Lynas development from a new entrant to a significant rare earths player. The company has demonstrated that with resilience, perseverance, and a commitment to doing the right thing, Australian companies can succeed as ethical, responsible materials producers for global manufacturing markets.
The Lynas I retired from today is a sustainable business with a strong balance sheet, and this provides an excellent foundation to continue our progress, to progress our exciting growth plan to meet the future needs of our customers. I wish my colleagues on the board, the Lynas team, and our shareholders all the best for the future, and I look forward to following Lynas's continued growth and development as a shareholder. I would now like to invite Amanda Lacaze to address the meeting.
Well, good morning, everybody, and it's so nice to see so many familiar faces. This is actually one of my favorite days of the year, and, you know, because it is a terrific opportunity for us to take stock on where we've been. However, I am alert to the fact that last year, after I'd done my presentation, I looked at my watch and I thought, "Did I really speak for that long?" So I promise that this year I will try to do better and keep it a little briefer, so that I'm not standing between you and what I think is quite a nice morning tea outside. I have something here which is going to help me. This year, we have had a very good year.
you know, we do this because we have a very clear view of the things which are important to us, and we share these as values within the company. Today, we are fortunate to have most of our leadership team actually here in Sydney for a variety of different reasons, and I want to take the opportunity to introduce them. We have Gaudenz Sturzenegger, who is our CFO, and he was nominated by the AFR just yesterday, two days ago, as the number two CEO in Australia. So, you know-
CFO.
A CFO in Australia. So you're doing pretty well.
Number one.
Sitting next to him is our COO, Pol Le Roux, who is well known to many of you. He has not been nominated as the number one COO in Australia yet. However, if the AFR doesn't decide to do this, I might just establish this as a particular award, and we can give it to Pol in any case. Alongside Pol, we have Daniel Havas, who is our VP of Strategy and Investor Relations. So many of you actually have spoken to Daniel, particularly over the last year. Then next to Daniel is our Malaysian tornado, Mimi Afzan, who heads up our People and Culture, all of our community engagement activities, and basically just keeps the rest of us under control. And at the back, we have Jennifer Parker, who is our VP of Corporate Relations.
So, we are in a, you know, it, it's great to have them here today, and I would encourage you to take the opportunity to speak to them after the meeting as well. Just, hopefully, they will confirm that what I'm telling you is not just, you know, in my own imagination. So we have high aspirations, and we hold ourselves to high standards in Lynas. To be a safe and sustainable producer, to operate efficient and low-impact operations, to grow, to increase in scale as market demand grows, to make sure that we are contributing to better and more sustainable supply chains, particularly for outside China applications. And we have a great passion for ensuring we make a positive contribution to our local communities in each of the areas in which we operate.
Laverton and Kuantan, in both instances, we have many disadvantaged people in our surrounding community, and as we prosper, we seek to share some of that prosperity with our local communities. The 2023 financial year was a good year. It's very easy to say that now. I was saying to Penny before, it's like when you have a baby, you remember the first time they smiled at you, but you don't remember all the times they cried. And so as I look back on 2023, I remember all the good things that we have achieved, and maybe even now, you know, my memory is deliberately obscuring some of the more complex and difficult parts.
But the team that I have just introduced are the ones who have variously, I've been trying to look for the right analogy, climbed mountains, blown up ramparts, walked on hot coals. You know, these all sound pretty uncomfortable, don't they? But been absolutely laser-focused on delivering the best outcomes for this business. And whether that has required them to work all hours of the night to manage multiple priorities, they have done this every single day, and that is why we have been able to achieve this outcome. And always, as I said, holding ourselves to a very high standard for the quality of our operations. So first of all, we aim to be a safe and sustainable producer. We're all very alert to this as a mining company.
I did love, not long ago, a description in The West Australian advertiser, which referenced the mighty mining industry, and I like the fact that we're part of the mighty mining industry. And I've said before that the Australian might have used to ride on the sheep's back, but now it stands on the digger's shoulders. The mining industry contributes over 50% of the corporate tax in Australia. Many of the services that we enjoy and expect are as a result of the mining industry. I'm also proud to be part of an industry where we lead the world in safety and sustainability practices, and we see this when we visit sites elsewhere in the world, and we see processes and practices that we certainly would not accept here in Australia. Which brings me to safety.
I know that our safety statistics, let's start with safety is actually our first priority. We need to make sure our people go home safely every night. You know, it is our duty to our people to ensure that. And while the performance this year has not trended in the direction that we would like, I think reflecting a lot more complexity in our operations, including a lot of the construction activities on site, we are absolutely focused on continuing to improve it. And on an absolute basis, it is, you know, still measures well versus our peers, but it is still not good enough. So we're very focused on ensuring that we continue to improve that. Kathleen also already mentioned fairly quickly, you know, sort of our financial highlights. AUD 310 million in NPAT last year.
I know that it wasn't quite as good as the year before, but I can remember, and she talked about the soft rare earth pricing. Pol and Gaudenz and I can remember in 2015, dreaming of the day that we would have $65 NdPr prices. So, we as a business can operate efficiently and successfully when the price is lower. We just are more successful when it is higher. Sales revenue close to AUD 750 million, and the EBITDA at AUD 377 million.
And yes, it was wonderful to finish the year with just over AUD 1 billion in cash, because we have some people in the business who are very focused on actually, you know, spending some of that money to ensure that we are set up efficiently and to take advantage of the next inevitable upturn in the market. The operational highlights, despite some external challenges with respect to things like water supply in Malaysia early in the year. Yeah, Pol, it seems a very long time ago now, doesn't it? But it did hurt an awful lot at the time. We had a record year for NdPr production in the back six months of the year in particular. The plant in Malaysia demonstrated to us just how good we could be.
At Mount Weld, our team there produced sufficient, not only to meet today's needs, but also to build a stockpile for Kalgoorlie. Of course, about AUD 600 million reinvested in the business, in property, plant, and equipment, to ensure that we are fit for the next stage of operations. As I said, our people, our company is about people, and our people, and all of us hold ourselves to a high standard. Sometimes I chuckle when people, maybe I just roll my eyes when people talk about, you know, companies as if they don't care, and it's only because someone outside says, "You've got to get your ESG right." Our company is made up of people. Our people care as much as anybody else about ensuring that we are sustainable and are very focused on this.
And so, as we think about this, we have this focus on safety, equity, and diversity. Our communities, we seek to hire locally, to buy locally, to be active in the community and share our prosperity. And in terms of environment, yes, we don't want our children or grandchildren to inherit a world which is not okay to live in. And so we are focused on implementing strategies within the business that will minimize the impact that we have on our surrounding environment. So, this year, we pull out just as a specific, because, you know, it is something that the ASX seeks us to disclose. We've got 25% of our senior executive team are women, 25% of our employees are women.
This is a long way better than we were, even, you know, sort of six or seven years ago. And we have 43% of our board members are women, although with Kathleen leaving, we will need to address that. We support, we have within our community structures, where we actually have focus areas, including education, sport and health, as well as Mimi. Mimi's down there. She's a bit worried that I might forget things, so she's just trying to manage me remotely. And our giving programs are all about ensuring that we actually are engaged with our community on the things that matter.
And we are working to ensure that we, with time, reduce our impact with our greenhouse gas emission, reduction action plan, which is not just about Scope 1 emissions, although we must start with those, but also about Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. And the most significant initiative here, Kathleen has already referenced, which is moving from a diesel-operated generator at Mount Weld to a gas hybrid renewable power station. Now, this is a significant commitment, but we are very pleased to be making that commitment. So the market for rare earths continues to grow. One of the things that I think that it's worth reminding ourselves that today, in 2023, the market is, demand is 45% higher than it was in 2019. And we see this, you know, trend continuing.
And of course, that's the reason why we are reinvesting in assets in the business to be able to meet demand as it continues to grow. In 2023, demand has been more moderated, and that really has reflected, in particular, some of the economic situation in Japan. But sorry, in China, but we expect the growth to accelerate right through to 2030. During the year, as I think all of you know, we've been very engaged, particularly in Malaysia, with respect to the license conditions and our ongoing operations. And I'd just like to share with you some of the communication material we've used there.
Years ago, we were invited to invest in Malaysia. For more than 10 years, we have invested in our people, who are today recognized as world-leading experts. For more than 10 years, we have met all conditions of our investment, complied with all regulations, and adopted world's best practices. For more than 10 years, we have made Malaysia famous as the only producer of separated rare earths outside China. For more than 10 years, we have been supplying essential raw materials to produce the technologies Malaysians rely on every day. Who are we? We are Lynas Malaysia.
Lynas uphold the highest safety standards.
To be safe for our people.
Safe for our community. Safe for the environment.
My job is to make sure our people use the right equipment, so they can go home safely to their families every day.
My job is to ensure we comply with Malaysian standards as well as international best practices.
My job is to make sure that water leaving our plant - our Malaysian stakeholders on that material.
So just looking then a little bit at our operations, which of course is Pol's area as our Chief Operating Officer. And really, you know, he and his team have just pulled a blinder this year. That's very Australian. He won't understand that, so it's okay, I'll just say that to all of you. But record annual concentrate production at Mount Weld. We completed mining campaign 4. We've got really extensive drilling. It's fine to have, you know, sort of the recognized highest grade ore body in the world, but it's not good enough to just sit there and say: Well, we'll just, you know, sort of pull that out.
The additional drilling will allow us, with time, to move some of the resource into mineral reserve, but it also allows us to become more sophisticated and cleverer in the way that we mine. So instead of just mining for grade, because, you know, we mine a variety of different elements, over time, we will start to think about how do we mine for element in addition to just mining for grade. The exploration program, the geos, every time I go to Mount Weld, you know, they sort of look at me like, you know, sort of, you know, that little cartoon character with the propeller on his head? You know, they sort of get very excited about, you know, finding out more about this ore body.
And we have a significant team, including resources from JARE, our Japanese partners, working through this. In Malaysia, record NdPr production, January through to June. I mean, really excellent. And we needed to do that after some of the disruptions in the first six months of the year. The three-year operating license was initially renewed on the March 2nd, but with the restrictions on our operations in Malaysia still in place, and so, you know, we have had a very intensive number of months on that. The mixed rare earth carbonate receivable facilities are constructed and commissioned.
That's been pretty exciting, and we are now shut down in Malaysia as we do tie-in works to be able to increase our downstream production, that solvent extraction and product finishing, to 10,500 tons of NdPr per year. This is just a picture to share with you of the new MREC facility. It's pretty, like I said, it's pretty exciting to see new kit in place, and this allows us not only to process the material which will come from Kalgoorlie, but it also as part of this, we have included additional facilities which will allow us to continue to improve our efficiency in Malaysia and also our quality.
Of course, the big news and jigsaw puzzle piece that came out from under the couch, the Malaysian license in early, earlier this month, or no, just at the end of last month, was updated to remove the conditions that provided you know, constraints on our operations in Malaysia. This means that we are now able to continue to process lanthanide concentrate from Mount Weld at our facility in Malaysia for the duration of this license. This was a major achievement. Unfortunately, Dato' Sri Mashal, who heads up our Malaysian regulatory efforts, is not here today because he's actually in Malaysia, working with the AELB on some of the R&D commitments that we have made. But Mashal and Pol, between them, really have delivered an outstanding result here.
So in the future, Malaysia will take feed as concentrate directly from Mount Weld, which will go through the same current flow sheet that it does today, and it will take feedstock from Kalgoorlie as well. And this is the reason why we've shut down at present to do the tie-in works for the solvent extraction and product finishing, is so that we can, you know, absolutely, cracking and leaching is not a bottleneck for the foreseeable future, so we need to increase our downstream processing capacity. So when I think about that, you know, it brings us to the next thing, which is really increasing scale and our appetite for growth, which even all these years on, is undiminished.
We are very fortunate because we face into a growth market, and we have the skills and the competence and the assets to be able to fully participate in that market. We are increasing our footprint, Mount Weld, Kalgoorlie, Malaysia, the U.S. And the U.S. project, as Kathleen mentioned, is now significantly progressed. Kalgoorlie. I know everybody wants to know about what's going on in Kalgoorlie. I can see a few sort of smiles at present. I can tell you that the kiln is on. It is at temperature. The refractory has been cured. That all sounds very, you know, technical, doesn't it? But all of these things are necessary preconditions to production.
We have been through commissioning of all of the various stages of the plant, and we are waiting on a final sign-off from the gas inspector, almost as we speak. So, you know, poor Grant has to send me a daily update, so that I know where things are at. But this is an extraordinary facility. It is being constructed very quickly. We were disappointed to have to announce that we had experienced cost blowouts on the construction of this facility. Unfortunately, as it turns out, someone said to me, "Well, every project is, you know, overrun. What made you think you'd be different?" And I said, "We aspire to be different." But unfortunately, you know, particularly over the past sort of 18 months, there's been real explosion in costs in WA in particular.
And then we add to that the fact that we were racing very hard to meet a deadline. We have a little bit more breathing space now. However, we will be producing more than the original design out of that facility, and we made those further enhancements to design as we moved through. So just let me show you a little bit of what the plant looks like. The line is tragic because I get very excited by that video. I am particularly excited by things like our filter building, which is now... You know, we've been able to put in significantly enhanced design and operations in that facility. We have automatic filter operation, including the ability to change out cloths, those sorts of things.
We would describe this as really sort of 4th-generation technology after a number of rounds of improvement in Kuantan, and now we have been able to design out some of what we saw as the initial flaws in the Kuantan operation. Then, of course, at Mount Weld, we've also got a significant project ongoing. The minor and preliminary works approvals have been had. We're very engaged and have a lot of support from government here, Western Australia, U.S., Japan, Europe, everywhere, for the further development of this activity. We have the recommendation from the EPA that the plant be allowed to, that we be allowed to, execute our plan in full.
I'm very proud of one of the announcements from Matthew Tonts, who's the EPA Chairman, who said, "This is one of the first projects to provide the EPA with life -of- mine input that allow insight that allows confident assessment of the combined and cumulative impacts." So, as said at the beginning, we hold ourselves to a high standard. We seek to ensure that we do provide useful and appropriate information. At Mount Weld, as I said, we'll be transitioning to cleaner energy, and we are well progressed with an agreement with an energy provider for a power station, which will replace the current diesel-powered power station. It will be a combination of gas, solar, and wind.
And probably one of the most important things that we're doing as part of this project is really getting a step change in our water recycling. Water is almost as valuable in Mount Weld as the rare earths that come out of the ore body, and we need to treat it that way. We need to ensure that we are utilizing that water and wisely, and as I said, that we are re-reaching appropriate recycling levels. So just a little look at what's wrong. So I don't have any time, and Kathleen's looking at her watch. I think that I have failed miserably. But anyway, you can tell you can send someone with that hook to pull me off if you like, or I'll keep going. The U.S. rare earths processing facility.
We were really delighted this year, I mean, in the U.S. as well. I mean, we did a lot of work on this plant and what it was gonna cost, and then we had COVID, and then the cost went up by 40%. We said to the U.S. government, "you know, we need to rethink this." The U.S. government is absolutely committed to this facility, and the contract that we have essentially ensures that we are not carrying significant risk on the development of this facility. So we are pretty excited about this. We've got the site. Some of our team are actually next week doing some significant local community engagement, and we have the equivalent of, you know, our EPA proposals in place. In the U.S., it's NEPA.
So that process is continuing, and certainly by the next time I speak with you, we will have our time-lapse photography to show just how much we've achieved there. Growing the rare earths market outside of China is critical to our business. We need to ensure that, you know, we have a larger industry outside of China. Sometimes I get asked about, you know, sort of the potential competitors. For us, if we can have a larger and more robust industry outside of China, it is actually good for all of us. But, you know, we are looking not just at the next, you know, five years, we're looking at the next 10 years and what sorts of technologies are going to be developed over that time.
In particular, as we think about the energy transition from, you know, sort of the energies of the 20th century to the energies of the 21st century, there is a role for rare earths in that process, and not just our magnetic materials, but our catalytic materials as well. We have built a team, an R&D team, who is actually working on these technologies, which are the five-year-plus technologies, including use in the production of hydrogen, say, for example, and some of those other areas. I don't have time to go into that in a lot of detail today, but I'm sure that Pol will be delighted to speak with you about it, because this is his great passion. We look forward to the next 10 years with excitement.
For more than 10 years, we have been building the rare earths industry of the future in Malaysia. Since 2012, we have contributed to the creation of more than 4,000 jobs and become a trusted producer of essential inputs to high-tech and green-tech manufacturers around the world. In the next 10 years, we will innovate and partner with Malaysian industry to develop new energy technologies for the net zero world. In the next 10 years, through Lynas and our world-leading rare earths experts, Malaysia can become a global hub for net zero technologies. Together, we can achieve Malaysia's net zero commitment. Who are we? We are Lynas Malaysia.
That we've come a long way in the last 12 years, but we've still got a long way to go. And finally, as I said, you know, we're very committed to building prosperity in our communities, sharing with you some of the key numbers on that. We are committed to buying from local suppliers, and we also do pay them in a very timely fashion. But we invest in R&D, we invest in the community. We make sure that we employ from our local communities, which ensures that money goes back into the community and creates more economic benefit. So finally, I need to add my words to a farewell to Kathleen. The company that we are today owes its success in no small part to Kathleen's hard work, intelligence, and commitment.
One day, I think I might write a book on my journey at Lynas, and it will include the way that she managed to entice me to join this company. Suffice to say, she did, and suffice to say that we have had a very strong working relationship over the past decade, almost, which I think has been very good for Lynas and its shareholders. Kathleen understands the business. She understands when it is appropriate and is prepared to roll up her sleeves and help in the business, and she understands when it is more appropriate to maintain proper distance for governance reasons. She brings to our business a real focus on operational excellence and understanding of investment, investment logic, and investment markets. A fabulous ability to manage multiple stakeholders.
She is a trusted and respected counsel for me and for the whole of the management team, and brings, you know, the famous much-vaunted emotional intelligence to what we do, with a focus on our people, on development, and of course, diversity. One of my very favorite pictures is on the left here, which is Kathleen and me at this year's International Women's Day celebration in Malaysia. Actually, it was themed around rock around the clock, basically. We taught our Malaysian women how to do Nutbush, you know, which some of them got like that, and others were like: "Oh, this is a bit energetic." But it was just a fabulous, fabulous time and was an excellent example. We couldn't have done that 10 years ago. Our first International Women's Day celebration, we had 35 women.
At this one, we had over 200. Really, that focus on diversity, not just gender, but age, experience, ethnicity, is something that Kathleen has brought to the board table and also to our business. On the right, of course, is the photo when we had Ambassador Caroline Kennedy spend a full day with us last year. She came out and visited both Mount Weld and Kalgoorlie. We were just delighted because the four senior people on this trip were all women. We had Ambassador Kennedy, and we had Kathleen, and we had me, and we had the U.S. Consul from WA, who is Siri, who is also a woman.
So it was a great day, and we were able to really demonstrate, and she was able to take the message back to the U.S. about how important we were. So we are incredibly sad to say farewell to Kathleen, but she promises me that she's going to remain a shareholder, and she's gonna front up each year, and she's going to ask me really difficult questions. So, I would like you to join me in really saying thank you very, very much to Kathleen. And with that, having singularly, atrociously, not met my objective of speaking for less time, I will now open up for questions. I... Oh, sorry, I have to hand it to her.
Thank you, Amanda, and I have to make a confession to make. I was not on stage doing the Nutbush. I'm American. I have no idea how to do the Nutbush. I was hiding with the Malaysians in the back. So thank you very much for those kind words, Amanda. I will now table the financial statements of the company for the year ending June 30, 2023, consisting of the annual financial report, the directors' report, and the auditor's report. The annual report was dispatched with notice of the meeting to those shareholders who requested a hard copy, and an electronic copy was sent by email to shareholders with an email address and made available on the ASX website and 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's an opportunity for everyone to ask questions, there'll be a limit of two questions per shareholder during each Q&A session. There were some questions submitted in advance by shareholders, and we've attempted to answer those questions throughout the speeches, for example, dividend policy. But again, if people didn't get the answer that they were expecting, please ask again. So proxy holders, please state your name and that you're 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 in the middle of the room. Okay, so with that, I'd like to open up for questions. Just if you wanna make your way to the microphone, please.
Bob Richardson, Private Investor, and may I add my congratulations to you and to Amanda for a wonderful year and your wonderful service.
Thank you.
Jim Ainsworth would have liked to have been here and done it himself. He asked me to pass that on. I wondered if I might ask about the outlook for the calendar year next year for reduction and demand. I understood what Amanda said, but are we looking forward to a greater demand? The demand is for the long term we're expecting, but what are we expecting for next year? And with the increased production capacity, will you expect Kalgoorlie to be fully utilized over the next shorter period, or is it going to take some time to absorb that extra production?
I'll hand that question to Amanda.
Okay. Thanks, Bob. So as I said, it's sort of a bit of putting a jigsaw puzzle together. I think as many of you who've been with us for a long time know, we have five different steps in our production, and we don't, you know, always manage to lift them all up at the same time, at the same rate. So in fact, with the new license, we take the constraint of cracking and leaching, and between Kalgoorlie and Malaysia, we have combined capacity of about 16,000 tons a year. We will manage that, you know, for the best and most efficient cost outcome for the business.
Once we have the Mount Weld expansion complete, we have a sustainable 12,000 tons a year, but we will be picking that up because we're focusing on the areas which are the current bottleneck, which is, for example, dewatering first. So it's not that we sit at current rates until the end of next year. We're gonna have a couple of steps in the meantime, and right now we're enhancing downstream in Malaysia to get us to the 10.5. So our target would be that by the end of next year, we should be running at a minimum at a run rate of about 10,500 tons a year, and in fact, hopefully sooner than that, and it will be a little bit dependent upon Mount Weld.
Will we be able to place all of that in the market? Will the market continue to grow? Absolutely. You know, the easiest part of Pol's job is the responsibility for sales and marketing because he picks up the phone and he says, "Sure." Isn't that true? But we have had significantly more demand, particularly over the last year, than we have been able to serve, particularly during the period where we've been uncertain about the license conditions. And so, Pol and the sales team are now very actively involved, particularly with OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers in the automotive industry, to set up now the contracts for the future.
Thank you very much. May I ask just one more question, perhaps of Gaudenz or whoever? Sulfuric acid, is there any other option other than BHP for sulfuric acid for Kalgoorlie?
Not yet.
Yeah.
Gallium and germanium, I think. So they're not our materials, no. But I think that many certainly geopolitically sort of look at this and see this as potentially, you know, the sort of the canary in the mine shaft. This is if China's prepared to put export controls on those materials, will that move into some of the other materials?
So are you gonna mine them?
Oh, no, we don't have them.
Then that's not as much of-
Unfortunately, I... If we did, we would, but no, we don't have them.
I have another question.
Yes.
What have you done differently this year, and has the effect been positive or negative?
Oh, that's an excellent question. Oh, that's a really good question. I think we have done many things differently this year, particularly in our operations.
And there are some people in the room who have visited, you know, sort of our Malaysian facility. I think that one of the things that you would see if you went there today is that we've implemented, or Pol and his team have implemented, about ensuring that the plant is kept in its best possible condition, because if you operate in a clean environment, you are gonna make more quality product, and people would actually see that there. I think that we have enhanced our skill level again. I think a number of our, you know, we've added to our R&D team, we've added to our process improvement team, so we are looking to always be improving. We currently have a pilot in place where we're looking at increased water and chemical recycling in the business.
This is again about, you know, sort of improving sustainability. So I think that we've all adopted, which we are much better than yesterday, but much worse than tomorrow. So we continue on that journey. But would there be anything else you would want to add to that?
In the ins...
I believe these are good. I'm not quite sure about the ugly. That's probably not very PC, but, the bad, what have we done? Actually, you know, I think that we have dealt with a number of external challenges re, really very well. It was very difficult in the first quarter in Malaysia. But I wouldn't say that that was our, you know, as a result of, of, of our efforts. Certainly, as I said in, in our speech, I guess the one thing that we, if I had a magic wand, we would not have, we would have delivered better, was that we wouldn't have had the same cost overrun at Kalgoorlie. But, but other than that, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Jonathan Gray. I'm a Retail Shareholder. I've been a Shareholder since Nick Curtis first founded the company. For a long time, and it's been a long and torturous journey, so I congratulate the board and the current management team. First question in relation to what you might call the inflection of international geopolitics, focus on the supply chain and value chain of rare earths, in particular in defense applications. What aspirations, given Lynas's position in the leading sense internationally, does the board hold and management hold to repeat the exercise of the Texas facility somewhere in the European Union or the U.K.
Thank you, Jonathan. I'm really pleased that, you know, you're not prepared to give us even a moment's breathing space between transactions. You know, we're not quite there yet, and so, like, when are we starting again? Let me say a little bit about the U.S. first, because I have spent a little bit of time in the U.S. over the month. The Prime Minister very thoughtfully aligned his travel plans to mine, so I was in Washington the same week that we were there. Which was very convenient because there was a critical minerals roundtable at the Australian Embassy in which we participated. And it was excellent because Lynas was, you know, really, well, A, it was the, we really got pride of place in terms of projects and development.
So, the U.S. is very determined to reshore manufacturing, and as I then traveled back to APEC and President Biden made the comment, "Don't bet against the American people." And I think that is correct. When you look at the policy settings that they've put in place, they are not clicking their heels three times and saying, "Now we're going to be in critical minerals." They are actually putting policy settings in place, including things like you know the Inflation Reduction Act, which will ensure that this manufacturing is reshored. And I think that we, as a company, have found a pathway to do that, which actually has transferred the balance sheet risk to the U.S. government rather than to our company, which is a very good thing.
But we do that with confidence that there will be development of the industry. I think we've got seven different magnet projects in Europe. We are engaged, and certainly we have an understanding. We have many of our customers or our customers' customers are in Europe. We also are engaged with those who would seek to find ways to process and otherwise, but we're not in a position to make it.
The plan, so the shareholders can understand it a lot better. Would help. I know the criticality of the ongoing operation in Malaysia, the sunset condition on the operating license, and the espoused excellence of environmental standards of the company. I note no apparent dashboard in the public domain of those things routinely published for the benefit of the Malaysian society. What efforts will the company be making in the next year, in particular, to extend the sunset date, by say, over 10 years, to satisfy both the state and the nation of Malaysia, that the accumulation of NORM and the ongoing operation of standard capacity will satisfy their requirements?
So, you've touched all the criticisms, the important points there. The license condition that we accepted as part of this license, which is a normal three-year license, right? So it doesn't actually have a close date on it. And there is nowhere in the world, much as we would like it, where you're ever licensed to do anything in perpetuity or period. It is a clean license. It is not that the conditions have been temporarily put at bay. It is a normal license. We have committed to spend 1% of revenue on R&D, and that R&D is targeted at the removal of the NORM, which is thorium, from the technology, which is, it's not cutting edge, but leading edge, maybe we would say.
And so we have a team which is focused on doing that development, and certainly, we remain very actively engaged with the Malaysian government, in particular, on the opportunity activity. And I think that this Malaysian government understands the head start that Malaysia has by having Lynas in Malaysia in a way that maybe hasn't been fully appreciated previously.
Thank you.
Jen, do we have any questions?
Yes, Chairman, we have two questions from online, Chair. Is it still targeted to reach nameplate capacity by the end of calendar year 2024?
Amanda?
So we, in terms of when does first production come out, I mean, there's always a little bit of uncertainty around this as you commission a new plant and as you deal with all of the issues. You know, that is why you have a significant commissioning phase. As I said earlier, the kiln's on the, it's operating at temperature. Refractory is cured. We are progressively moving through commissioning of, all of the other stages, most of which are fully, commissioned now. We have all of our raw materials on site, and we're just awaiting a final sign-off from the gas inspector.
The capacity, nameplate capacity?
We will produce at the rate that we require for the market, as we always do.
Mm-hmm.
We ensure that we balance both of our facilities to give us the best possible cost and earnings outcome for our shareholders.
Before we move back into the room, Jen, do we have another question online?
Yes, we have a second question from Mr. Millis, which is: How will the combined processing capacity of almost 20 kilotons per annum for the Malaysian and Kalgoorlie plants be maximized if Mount Weld uplifted production capacity is 12 kilotons per annum in NdPr equivalent?
Sure. So that was what I was saying earlier. We never lift. You know, we don't lift each of the stages in lockstep because each of them has different drivers to the way that we actually develop, you know, the capability. So yes, the Malaysian decision gives us headroom in cracking and leaching, but we are putting in place the enhancements to move both the upstream and the downstream over time.
Questions on the floor?
Yes. Hi, I'm Paul Norman from the U.S., and I want to thank you very much for spending our tax dollars on your new plant. Very prudent. I have two questions anyway. The first one is regarding supply and recycling, and I was wondering if you could provide a little more detail. Can you address the procurement scarcity and recycling of the required water, as well as the sulfuric acid requirements? Or in other words, what recycling percentages do you expect, say, within the next 12 months?
Okay. So first of all, just thank you for your tax dollars. It's quite interesting, at, in the variety of different interactions that I have with various politicians, I actually say, "You should not seek to pick winners. You should create..." I'm a bit old-fashioned. I think government's job is to create infrastructure, say, for example, to create an environment in which, via either the provision of infrastructure or other policy, we then can be successful as a business. However, if governments are determined to write checks, I've told my people to be at the front of the line, because at least then we can be sure the money is spent wisely. Now, I would like to ask Pol to speak to the point of recycling of water and chemicals, because this is an area that he spends a lot of his time on.
Yes. So recycling is a project we are piloting at the moment. The primary concern is to get rid or, or to reduce our water dependency on freshwater supply by something like 70%, and all chloric and caustic soda being 100% recycled. So we would be no dependent on whatever happens on our water supplies. I'm looking forward for the day when I can say to the water supply in Kuantan, "Oh, there is no water. Too bad." And that is being piloted for this calendar year, 2024. And so then we'll have to invest, and we'll develop this process across the world for all our operations. But it's not on sulfuric at the moment. Step-by-step approach.
To just add to that, in Kalgoorlie, we take gray water from the council, and we actually recycle that 6x . In the Mount Weld expansion, a significant portion of that is actually dedicated to further upgrading our water treatment facilities and increasing our water recycle there. The target is over 90% recycled.
My second question, please, is, maybe a little touchier, whatever, but how does Lynas size up China and the desire to perhaps eliminate Lynas's competition? Does size matter, Lynas's compared to China in worldwide sales?
You can have a shot at that. Pol's laughing because he did a presentation just recently where one of the slides says, "Size matters." So I'm going to let him actually.
I think Paul attended the presentation, I think, so he would know.
Yes, size does matter. Critical mass is really important. I think that we have, over 30 years, a market where the normal rules of supply and demand are not operating. I think that ensuring that there is sufficient critical mass is my comments about we do need an industry outside of China, not just a single company, right? Because that is the only thing which is gonna change those dynamics in the market, and long term, that will be good for our business.
Okay. So are there any more questions online?
There's no further questions, Chair.
So, oh-
Oh, well, I might as well. Michael Strockosh. Two little points. A lot of mining companies pretend they have some rare earth stockpile somewhere here and there, especially in Western Australia. When does the company anticipate it will start processing these? How does one say? Valuable stockpiles that other companies pretend they have.
Well, we can't process anything that's just pretend.
Yeah.
However, we are very happy to receive material when it is available. So we have been very clear with some of the firms that say, "You know, yes, we've got this material," that we would be prepared to enter into an offtake agreement and process their material. We are yet to receive any.
Yes, and the other detail was, some of the roofs I see haven't got solar panels on it at Kalgoorlie or Mount Weld. And I was thinking, if every flat roof has a solar panel and a vanadium battery, it will be good, and vanadium is better than lithium because it don't burn.
Are you a shareholder in that company as well, yeah?
Well, the... How does one say? Immaterial in that company. As usual. And the other detail is that, the... Oh, I've forgotten now.
So we have a solar array going in as part of the renewable power station at Mount Weld. We have solar panels going into our Kuantan facility. In Kalgoorlie, at this stage, as Western Power is greening its own grid, we actually have elected to take the power from the grid, but we have also engaged with a number of potential suppliers of, you know, sort of a local microgrid of renewables in Kalgoorlie.
Well, I'm here. I might as well ask the auditors. EY, I gather, has any of their workers that work for Lynas on the Lynas project ever worked for PwC in the past 10 years?
Paul, Paul, are you-
Due to the priority of the audit.
Paul, do you want to provide the microphone to Gavin, please?
I'm thinking through all parties. My, my immediate answer is no. I just... No, not that I'm aware of any in Malaysia or here in the senior teams that, that worked there with all that long term, anyone at all.
Yes, that's how does one say? The audit profession has not covered itself in glory in the past 10 years.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next question, please.
Thank you, fellas. Just a statement I think that needs to be addressed is the elephant in the room, which is that Lynas Rare Earths being a creditor to the banks for AUD 903 million. I assume that the money is in the bank. Given that the banking system is showing very severe cracks, unstable, shaky, what guarantees are there that the AUD 903 million that you've got in the bank is safe?
Good one. It sounds like a banker for us, question for our CFO.
Well, we are very aware of the potential risk you have with the bank, so we certainly spread the accounts we have. I think we spread it over five pretty big renowned banks. And obviously, we look at the revenue we can get on one side, but more important is not to have too much in one bank only.
Mm-hmm.
So I think we're pretty confident. And, also to bring in the audit professional, I think it's also properly audited that the money is there. So-
Yeah.
That's confirmed. Yeah.
Great.
My name is Barney Graham, representing Officer of Managed Super Fund. A very mundane and boring question after all the more interesting ones on the accounting, but can you please explain to me what the difference is between current inventories and non-current inventories?
Gaudenz ?
I've never seen that shown before, and I'd be curious to know. Thank you.
I can, but I think it's more competent if it's coming from the auditor side.
Yeah, happy to. The definition, I mean, the current inventory is really what you expect to use in the next 12 months through the normal cycle. So you see the majority of the inventory is current. But if the expectation through the plan is some of it, you're not going to... Some spare parts or some longer-term stockpiles are set as non-current if they're not going to be consumed within the next 12 months. So that's the rationale difference between the two classifications.
Can I give you a specific example? We mine at Mount Weld on a campaign basis rather than a continuous basis. So therefore, when we mine, we will mine enough material to last for maybe 18 months or two years. So it comes out of the ground, and it goes on what we call our ROM pad, and it sits there. So the material that we expect to utilize in the next 12 months is current inventory, and the material which is sitting there that we expect to process next year is non-current. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep.
Okay, so if there's no further questions at this stage, we'll proceed to the formal business of the meeting. Attendees in the room will have received one of the following cards upon registration. Blue is voting shareholders, orange, non-voting shareholders, yellow for visitors. Each resolution will be discussed and then voted by way of a poll. Or it might be white for visitors. 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, the Chairman will vote undirected proxies in favor of each resolution. Each Shareholder who is present in person and 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 the Boardroom will collect completed voting cards from each shareholder.
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. So Resolution 1 seeks approval of the 2023 remuneration report, which is set out in the company's annual report. Remuneration report sets out specific details of the company's remuneration framework during the year ended July 30, 2023. Proxies received for Resolution 1 concerning the remuneration report are now showing on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution?
Hello, Kathleen. It's Julieanne Mills with Australian Shareholders Association. This is probably a comment as much as a question. The ASA is actually going to be voting against the remuneration report this year, primarily because we felt there was insufficient justification for potential maximum remuneration increase from AUD 3.2 million to AUD 5.7 million. Also, we felt the detail of the STIs and the LTIs was missing in the annual report, and we also found that it was difficult to understand the impact of the changes required for a significant awareness of how to see what work out the CEO and the KMP were actually achieving. We also like to see an actual remuneration table for the CEO and KMP, and targets and hurdles that are clearly aligned and measurable to outstanding performance.
We want to see that remuneration is tested by the board and can be justified, and due to the lack of detail, we do not feel confident that this is the case. It may well be, but we don't feel confident about it. We appreciate the attempt to simplify the remuneration report and the clarity of the framework. We'd like the board to consider more transparency around the specific targets or hurdles and a longer-term performance period for LTIs. Thank you.
Thank you for the comment. I'll make a few comments on that. The first one is that we, we do benchmark our remuneration, and we look at both a framework around different ASX companies as well as specific ASX companies. We think it's really important that remuneration does not become transactional, and so we take a proactive view on what that remuneration should be, and we try to make sure that it's fair. We do have a significant proportion of remuneration at risk for our executives, and anybody who's known us for a long time would know that they rarely pay out at 100%, that there are definitely hurdles that don't get met. So, for example, if you look at Kalgoorlie, there are lots of reasons why that didn't get met, but it didn't get met, and it didn't get paid.
And so we think that has a lot of credibility from that perspective. Your point about transparency, every year we take on the feedback, and in fact, I think we added a table specifically asked for by the ASA, and I think the question is, should it be different going forward? And we do take that up, that input each year and try to improve the transparency.
Thank you.
Are there any questions online, Jen?
No.
Okay. So if there's no further questions on that, I will put the Resolution 1 to the meeting for voting by way of a poll. The text of the resolution. I keep forgetting I have to do this myself. The text of Resolution 1 is shown on the screen. Okay, we will now move this year's Resolutions 2 to 5, relate to the re-election of John Humphrey, Grant Murdoch, Dr. Vanessa Guthrie, and the election of John Beevers. Each of these resolutions will be voted on separately. I will ask each of the directors to address the meeting, and then following that, I will ask for questions on those resolutions. So Resolution 2 relates to the proposed re-election of John Humphrey as a Director.
The board values John's experience and contribution, and we support the re-election of John to the board. Detail of John'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 John Humphrey to briefly address the meeting.
Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm pleased to have this opportunity to address you this morning. I've been a Director of Lynas for six years, having first been elected in 2017, and I currently serve as the chair of the Nominations and Remuneration Committee. I'm a lawyer by profession. I was a partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, and its predecessor firms for 18 years, and subsequently at King & Wood Mallesons for 14 years. During that time, I specialized in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and capital raisings, corporate governance, and infrastructure projects. I'm an experienced company Director, having served on the boards of a number of ASX-listed entities, including Spotless, Cromwell Property Trust, Horizon Oil Limited, Auswide Bank, and Downer Group, amongst others. I'm also an experienced Chairman, having served as chair of Spotless, Horizon Oil, and Auswide Bank.
Lynas is a dynamic company, which as CEO Amanda Lacaze has told you earlier, has made great progress in a complex business environment. But I feel that the best of Lynas is yet to come because we have a number of exciting projects, as Amanda has outlined, at various stages of development. If I'm reelected as a Director today, I look forward to working with Amanda and the management team, to whom you've been introduced, to try and realize the company's further aspiration. Thank you.
Thank you, John. Resolution 3 relates to the proposed re-election of Grant Murdoch as a Director. The board values Grant's experience and contribution, and we support the re-election of Grant to the board. Details of Grant'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 Grant to briefly address the meeting.
Thank you, Kathleen, and good morning, everyone. First of all, thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Director for the last six years. Some of the challenges I think have been outlined by Kathleen and Amanda, and as the Chinese proverb goes, "Beware of living in interesting times." However, they've been very rewarding times in terms of the way that the company has responded to those challenges. My details are set out above, so I won't go through them any, any further, other than to say I think the background and position to be able to serve as the Chairman of the Audit, Risk, and ESG Committee, I have extensive experience in doing that. If reelected, I'm looking for—I would look forward to the challenge of working with both the management team and also the opportunities that Lynas faces going into the future.
I look forward to your support. Thank you.
Thank you, Grant. Resolution 4 relates to the proposed re-election of Dr. Vanessa Guthrie as a Director. The board values Vanessa's experience and contribution, and we 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, Kathleen, and good morning, everyone. It has indeed been a privilege to be part of the Lynas board since October 2020, and to work alongside Amanda and her talented executive team, as well as my fellow directors. I now formally offer myself for re-election as a Director so that I may continue to contribute to the growth of Lynas at a time of significant market expansion, reflecting the global economic growth in the critical minerals sector. As a Director of Lynas, I'm determined to add value to your investment. I bring over 35 years of Executive and Director experience to the Lynas board through the knowledge, expertise, and perspective that I've built in the mining sector in Australia.
In particular, that includes a detailed knowledge of the minerals value chain, from exploration and resource identification through mining, extraction, and mineral processing to commodity markets and emerging technologies. Importantly, in today's changing world, I have extensive experience in sustainable development, including environmental management, social impact, and climate change response. I won't go through the details of what any further of what Amanda has outlined, but suffice to say, in my three years on the board, we've committed to expanding Lynas's footprint and delivery to our customers globally. I also serve as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Santos Limited, Orica, Tronox Holdings, and Infrastructure Australia, and I am Pro-Chancellor of Curtin University. These roles provide me with excellent exposure to the issues driving the broader global economy, which I bring to our board discussions to the benefit of Lynas.
I commit to you, our shareholders, that I have the time, the energy, and the commitment to dedicate to Lynas's continued success in both meeting our customers' needs as well as growing Lynas to continue to be that important part of the global rare earth sector. If I'm successful in gaining support . I'm committed to working collaboratively with my board colleagues and the executive team in the execution of our exciting growth strategy. Thank you.
Thank you, Vanessa. Resolution 5 relates to the proposed election of John Beevers as a Director. John joined the board in May this year, and brings over 30 years of experience in resources, mining services, and chemical industries. We support the election of John to the board. Details of John's background and experience are set out in the explanatory memorandum and on the screen. The proxies for this resolution are also shown, were also shown. I'd like to now invite John Beevers to briefly address the meeting.
Thank you, Kathleen, and good morning, everyone. I'm honored to have had the opportunity to join the board of your company over the last few months, and to work with the talented and experienced group of directors and executives at Lynas. I'd have to say it's an exciting, dynamic company and one with huge potential, as I'm sure you're all aware. I would have liked to have joined you in person today; however, a long-standing commitment made prior to my appointment to the Lynas board means that I'm not in Sydney today. Given this is likely the first time you've met or heard from me, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my experience relevant to Lynas. I have 35 years international experience in the mining, resources, and chemicals industries, both as an Executive and as a Director on boards.
During this period, I've gained a wide range of experience in many of the functional requirements, such as building new technology and marketing it, as well as large and complex asset management and business leadership roles. I have experience in well-run, large businesses with the processes and procedures that are needed to safely and effectively run growing businesses of scale. I've also been involved in startups and business turnarounds requiring agility and speed to market. So I've built some experience in optimizing companies for both growth and performance. I'm particularly passionate about people, and love building and working in high-performance teams, a need of all businesses, no matter what size or phase they are in. I currently serve on the boards of Orica and Syrah, and I'm engaged in a number of other private endeavors.
If I'm successful in gaining your support to continue on the board, I'll be looking forward to contributing to the building of your company in the years ahead. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today.
Thank you, John. I'd like to confirm that the board supports the election and re-election of these directors. I'd now like to ask if there's any questions in the room or online related to Resolutions 2 to 5. Jen, are there any questions online?
T here's no questions online.
Okay. And none in the room? Okay. So that concludes the discussion on Resolutions 2 to 5. I now put Resolution 2, the proposed re-election of John Humphrey as a Director to the meeting for voting by way of a poll. The text of Resolution 2 is shown on the screen. I now put Resolution 3, the re-election of Grant Murdoch to the meeting for voting by way of a poll, and the text of Resolution 3 is shown on the screen. I now put Resolution 4, the re-election of Dr. Vanessa Guthrie, to the meeting for voting by way of a poll, and the text is shown on the screen. And finally, I put Resolution 5, the election of John Beevers, to the meeting by voting by way of the poll. The text of Resolution 5 is shown on the screen. I will now move to Resolution 6.
Resolution 6 relates to the authorization of issue of performance rights to employees eligible to participate in the rights plan. More details regarding the performance rights are set out in the explanatory memorandum. Proxies for this resolution are now shown on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution? Are there any questions online?
There's no questions online, Chair.
I will now put Resolution 6 to the meeting for a voting by way of a poll. The text of Resolution 6 is shown on the screen. Resolution 7 relates to the proposed grants of performance rights for the benefit of our 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 Ms. Lacaze are set out in explanatory memorandum. Proxies for this resolution are now shown on the screen. Are there any questions on this resolution?
There's no questions online, Chair .
Okay, thank you. I will now put Resolution 7 to the meeting for voting by way of a poll. The text of Resolution 7 is shown on the screen. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business of the meeting, and if there is no other business, I declare the formal part of the meeting is 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've 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 at the top of the card.
Secondly, 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 of the voting paper next to each resolution. You may vote for or against each resolution. Please sign in the space provided at the foot of the voting card, and finally, lodge the completed blue voting card in the ballot boxes that are available at the doors when you exit the room, or hand your card to the Boardroom representative. For shareholders online, voting is now closed. The results of the poll will be announced to ASX and will be posted on the Lynas website later today.
Before we close the meeting, I would like to thank my shareholders, to thank my board colleagues, and to thank the executives for an amazing 12 years, and I look forward to being a shareholder. And with that, I'll ask our, your chairman-elect, John Humphrey, to address the meeting.
Thank you, Kathleen. As you've heard, subject to my re-election as a director today, I will become the next Chairman of Lynas. I was delighted that my colleagues have chosen me to take on this role, and I'm excited and energized at the thought of doing that and working with Amanda and the management team to bring Lynas's amazing future closer. And as you heard this morning, our Chairman, Kathleen Conlon, is retiring after serving as the Director for 12 years. And it's really hard to overstate the contribution that Kathleen has made.
While she's been on the board, Lynas has had extended periods on the brink of solvency, and as you've also heard from one of the questions, we now have AUD 1 billion of cash well-distributed in the bank. Kathleen, we're sorry to see you go, but thank you for your enormous contribution. Thank you for the calm, measured, collegiate way in which you've made this contribution. And I'd like to ask everyone here today to join with me and acknowledge Kathleen's contribution by acclamation. This concludes the annual general meeting.