The French rare earth company Carester will sign a ten-year strategic cooperation agreement with Malaysian rare earth company MC Mining Sdn Bhd, and plans to jointly build a separation plant in Perak with an annual processing capacity of about 13,000 metric tons of rare earths, further expanding the global rare earth supply chain.
This marks the first large-scale investment by a European rare earth company in Malaysia's rare earth industry, and is an important step for Europe to diversify its sources of supply amidst global efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese rare earths.
Carester CEO Pierre Clanché, at a press conference held at the French Embassy in Malaysia on Monday, stated that the cooperation focuses on high-end technology transfer and will help Malaysia participate in the global green energy and high-tech industry development. The French Ambassador to Malaysia, Marc Abensour, also attended the press conference.
He said that the two parties have already commenced preliminary work on actinide and rare earth separation technology in Kelantan and Perak. The joint venture will produce neodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide, and terbium oxide, which will be further processed into metal ingots to provide raw materials for the production of rare earth permanent magnets.
In addition to establishing the separation plant, the two parties also plan to jointly develop advanced "in-situ leaching" technology and are actively seeking approval from local governments to launch rare earth mining projects in plantations across multiple states in Malaysia.
Clanché pointed out that rare earths and permanent magnetic materials have excellent anti-demagnetizing properties, making them indispensable key materials for electric vehicles, wind power generators, robots, and high-end electronic products.
As for the investment amount, he stated that the plan is still in its early stages and a specific figure cannot be disclosed yet. However, Carester will purchase part of the joint venture's concentrate and chemical concentrate products, which will be shipped to Carester's factory in France for recycling and heavy rare earth concentration processing.
Malaysia possesses about 16.1 million tons of rare earth reserves, covering all 17 rare earth elements. However, due to insufficient mining and processing technology, the authorities have been actively promoting cooperation with foreign enterprises in recent years. Currently, Australia's Lynas Rare Earths remains Malaysia's largest rare earth industry partner, and Malaysia is also discussing further cooperation opportunities with China, South Korea, and Japan.
Carester CEO Pierre Clanché, at a press conference held at the French Embassy in Malaysia on Monday, stated that the cooperation focuses on high-end technology transfer and will help Malaysia participate in the global green energy and high-tech industry development. The French Ambassador to Malaysia, Marc Abensour, also attended the press conference.
He said that the two parties have already commenced preliminary work on actinide and rare earth separation technology in Kelantan and Perak. The joint venture will produce neodymium oxide, dysprosium oxide, and terbium oxide, which will be further processed into metal ingots to provide raw materials for the production of rare earth permanent magnets.
In addition to establishing the separation plant, the two parties also plan to jointly develop advanced "in-situ leaching" technology and are actively seeking approval from local governments to launch rare earth mining projects in plantations across multiple states in Malaysia.
Clanché pointed out that rare earths and permanent magnetic materials have excellent anti-demagnetizing properties, making them indispensable key materials for electric vehicles, wind power generators, robots, and high-end electronic products.
As for the investment amount, he stated that the plan is still in its early stages and a specific figure cannot be disclosed yet. However, Carester will purchase part of the joint venture's concentrate and chemical concentrate products, which will be shipped to Carester's factory in France for recycling and heavy rare earth concentration processing.
Malaysia possesses about 16.1 million tons of rare earth reserves, covering all 17 rare earth elements. However, due to insufficient mining and processing technology, the authorities have been actively promoting cooperation with foreign enterprises in recent years. Currently, Australia's Lynas Rare Earths remains Malaysia's largest rare earth industry partner, and Malaysia is also discussing further cooperation opportunities with China, South Korea, and Japan.