By Clint Cox
The Lynas Corporation deal with China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (CNMC) is dead.
CNMC pulled out of the deal after the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) requested that the CNMC stake be pushed below 50% and that they would have less than half of the seats on the board.
This deal was worth hundreds of millions to Lynas — CNMC was going to assist in financing the completion of the Mt. Weld project. Now Lynas will have to go back to the well and look for more money.
Nick Curtis has proven to be extremely resourceful when looking for money — so don’t count them out. The rare earths have experienced quite a run lately, especially in North America, but it is unclear if there will be an appetite for a project that requires this much capital. The world economy is still sputtering, but there may be interest in a project such as this.
We will follow the story.