Rare earths producer Lynas boosted by potential U.S. Army funding

Texas Mineral Resources

12/12/2019 03:28

(Recasts; updates prices, includes other rare earths miners)
    ** Australian rare earths producer Lynas Corp  LYC.AX  jumps
13.9% to A$2.46 after a report said the U.S. Army plans to fund
construction of processing facilities
    ** Reuters reported that an Army division asked miners for
cost proposals of a pilot plant to produce heavy rare earths -
specialised minerals sought for use in weaponry  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N28K21L
    ** Shares of Lynas, the world's only major rare earths
producer outside China, mark their biggest jump since May-end,
and sit at their highest level since Nov 13
    ** The United States is looking to safeguard supplies of
rare earths as the long-lasting trade war with China fuelled
concerns that Beijing may look to restrict supply of the key
minerals, which has raised the spotlight on Lynas 
    ** The document shows Lynas and its privately held JV
partner Blue Line Corp are among those that the army has asked
to provide proposals - sources 
    ** About ~6.7 mln Lynas shares change hands, vs 30-day
average of 3 mln; shares advance ~36% this year, as of last
close 
    ** Other mentioned miners such as Texas Mineral Resources
 TMRC.PK , UCore  UCU.V  surged overnight; U.S.-focused rare
earths firms also got a boost, including Rare Element Resources
 REEMF.PK  and Medallion Resources  MDL.V  

 (Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan and Niyati Shetty)
 ((NikhilKurian.Nainan@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@NikhilKurianN))