Lindian, Carester plan rare earths separation plant in Kazakhstan

Lindian, Carester plan rare earths separation plant in Kazakhstan

Shree Mishra

Thu, September 3, 2026 at 5:15 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• LIN.AX -16.99%

Lindian Resources has reached an agreement with Carester to develop a rare earth oxide (REO) separation facility in Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan, along with a binding long-term offtake arrangement for heavy rare earth (HRE) products.

The agreement covers technology and engineering services, with Carester and Australian consulting and engineering company Tetra Tech Coffey set to progress a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for an 8,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) solvent extraction and oxide separation plant.

Completion of the DFS is expected by the end of 2026.

The arrangement also provides for a ten-year offtake of a mixed HRE compound known as SEGH, with two potential five-year extension options. Under these terms, Carester can purchase at least 70% of annual SEGH output.

The facility, which is expected to be funded internally from existing operations and closing liquidity of $89.9m (A$125m), is designed to produce separated REOs including neodymium and praseodymium.

Products from Lindian's Kazakhstan operations will be largely sent to Carester's Caremag Refinery in Lacq, France.

The Caremag Refinery is a joint venture development between Carester, the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) and Iwatani, and has secured significant financial backing from both French (€106m) and Japanese (Y19.9bn) sources.

Lindian's integrated approach aims to establish a mine-to-oxide processing chain, from its Kangankunde monazite concentrate project through downstream facilities in Kazakhstan.

The Stepnogorsk plant is expected to operate with access to existing local infrastructure including power, water, rail and reagent supply, which the company believes may help reduce capital and operating costs.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Industry and Construction has expressed support for the proposed project, which is recognised as strategically important for the local rare earths sector.

The agreement enables Lindian to supply magnet-related REOs including dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.

The Caremag Refinery in France aims to produce up to 600t of dysprosium and terbium oxides and 800t of neodymium and praseodymium oxides each year.

Carester will supply process technology and engineering for the Stepnogorsk project and review Lindian's SARECO facility for potential optimisation and upgrades.

Lindian has also indicated that the solvent extraction plant could process additional rare earth feed sources from Kazakhstan, potentially expanding its production platform.

Lindian executive chairman Robert Martin said: "The agreement with Carester represents another significant step in Lindian's strategy to move further downstream to expand our markets and to capture more of the value from the rare earths that we produce.

"Following our acquisition of 100% of the SARECO MREC [mixed rare earth concentrate] facility, we now have an established processing platform from which we can produce mixed rare earth concentrate and mixed rare earth carbonates as we move towards the realisation of producing separated oxides."

"Lindian, Carester plan rare earths separation plant in Kazakhstan" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.