Australia's Lindian to invest $150 mln in Kazakh rare earth carbonate production

ASTANA. Oct 8 (Interfax) - Silkway Metals, a division of Australia's Lindian Resources Ltd, will invest $150 million to upgrade the existing rare earths processing facility in Stepnogorsk in Kazakhstan's Akmola region, and add a new unit to produce mixed rare earth carbonate, the regional administration's press service said.

"The investment will total $150 million. The investor is Silkway Metals, part of the international Lindian Resources Ltd group from Australia," the Akmola region administration said.

The project runs from 2026 to 2028 and involves rebuilding existing production capacity and launching new output of mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC). Preparatory work has already begun.

About $50 million will go to modernizing the existing plant, with another $100 million for the new unit to produce MREC for permanent magnets used in the semiconductor industry, including electric vehicle batteries and computer chips.

Lindian plans to process about 12,500 tonnes of monazite concentrate a year into 8,000 tonnes of MREC.

The project will preserve 228 jobs and create additional ones once the new capacity reaches its design level.

Lindian Resources Ltd is an Australian mining company focused on rare earths. Its shares trade on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker LIN. Its main asset is the Kangankunde rare earth deposit in Malawi.

Lindian acquired the SARECO plant in Stepnogorsk for $20 million. The acquisition anchors the company's downstream strategy of advancing the SARECO MREC hydrometallurgical processing facility towards production, with first MREC production targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Silkway Metals became a subsidiary of Lindian in August 2026.