New World Profile of the MonthAugust 2025
By: The Editorial Team at NES
Amanda Lacaze
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Lynas Rare Earths
Lynas Rare Earths Ltd
The rare-earths market has remained one of the most geopolitically charged corners of the critical-minerals complex. China still dominate separation and magnet production. Western governments are accelerating efforts to build alternative supply chains for the neodymium-praseodymium and heavy rare earths essential to electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence systems. In the middle of that contest stood Amanda Lacaze and Lynas Rare Earths, the only commercial-scale producer of separated light and heavy rare-earth oxides outside China.
Lacaze has taken the company from near-collapse in 2014 to an ASX 50 constituent with a functioning mine-to-oxide platform spanning Western Australia and Malaysia. The next phase, capacity expansion at Mt Weld and Kalgoorlie, progress on heavy rare-earth separation, and deeper engagement with U.S. and Japanese customers are already under way. Critics still question the concentration of processing in Malaysia and the capital intensity of growth.
Supporters see the rare Western story that survives price crashes, regulatory battles and Chinese competition. The quiet controversy is whether one mid-sized Australian company could remain the cornerstone of non-Chinese rare-earth supply as demand accelerats.
Lacaze has taken the company from near-collapse in 2014 to an ASX 50 constituent with a functioning mine-to-oxide platform spanning Western Australia and Malaysia. The next phase, capacity expansion at Mt Weld and Kalgoorlie, progress on heavy rare-earth separation, and deeper engagement with U.S. and Japanese customers are already under way. Critics still question the concentration of processing in Malaysia and the capital intensity of growth.
Supporters see the rare Western story that survives price crashes, regulatory battles and Chinese competition. The quiet controversy is whether one mid-sized Australian company could remain the cornerstone of non-Chinese rare-earth supply as demand accelerats.
Amanda Lacaze matters because Lynas is the indispensable non-Chinese source of separated rare earths at commercial scale. As governments and manufacturers seek to reduce reliance on Chinese processing, Lynas occupies a unique position: it mines high-grade ore at Mt Weld, processes it into separated oxides, and is actively expanding both light and heavy rare-earth capability.
For NES readers focused on energy, business and strategic minerals, Lacaze represents the practical reality of building a Western rare-earths supply chain, one that has already survived existential challenges and is now scaling into the next decade.
For NES readers focused on energy, business and strategic minerals, Lacaze represents the practical reality of building a Western rare-earths supply chain, one that has already survived existential challenges and is now scaling into the next decade.
Key Facts
Age
62
Current Title
Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Lynas Rare Earths
Company HQ
Perth, Western Australia (processing in Malaysia)
Signature Focus
Non-Chinese rare-earth separation at commercial scale; Mt Weld resource; light and heavy rare-earth oxides for magnets and advanced manufacturing