amanda lacaze said Lynas Rare Earths had already broken the Chinese monopoly on separated light rare earths in 2013 and heavy rare earths in 2025. She said the company had been producing and selling separated rare earths for 12 years, putting a date on a shift that the market still tracks closely.
Lacaze said, “We are evidence that with the right assets and the right level of determination, you can actually be successful in this market.” She also said, “We broke the Chinese monopoly on separated light rare earths in 2013 and heavy rare earths in 2025.”
Lynas Rare Earths and Amanda Lacaze
Lacaze is the chief executive of the Australian mining company. She green-lighted the Lynas 2025 expansion project in 2019, when the benchmark light rare earth alloy neodymium-praseodymium was priced at $35 per kilogram. The company later agreed to a $110 per kilogram price floor for its four-year offtake agreement for NdPr with the Department of War.
That agreement came alongside $258 million from the Department of War for a Lynas heavy rare earth refinement facility in Seadrift, Texas. In recent months, Lynas also inked a 10-year price floor of $110 per kilogram of NdPr with Japan.
China Supply Chain Pressure
China has long controlled more than 90% of the rare earth supply chain, and Beijing's export controls helped spur state investment in the industry by Washington and other governments. Lynas has become part of that broader push to diversify supply chains outside China, a shift that gives Lacaze's claim wider relevance than a single company milestone.
The company also partnered with two South Korean companies to build rare earth alloy and magnet plants in Vietnam and Malaysia respectively. Those moves place Lynas closer to the parts of the supply chain where pricing, processing and offtake terms are set.
Lynas Value and Exit
Lynas's value has soared 30 times over the past decade to $15 billion. Lacaze is stepping down after 12 years as chief executive at the end of June, leaving the company with a larger footprint in processing and a record of government-backed contracts behind it.
For readers following the sector, the practical takeaway is straightforward: Lynas is no longer only a miner. It is now tied to long-term price floors, public funding and plant-building deals that will shape how much separated rare earth supply reaches buyers outside China.
