Lindian secures 20-year rare earths offtake with France's Carester

Lindian Resources has signed a binding 20-year offtake agreement with French firm Carester to supply heavy rare earths from its Kazakhstan hydromet plant, securing a long-term market for its production. The initial 10-year deal, extendable by two five-year periods, commits Carester to buying 70 percent of the mixed heavy rare earth carbonate from Lindian's SARECO facility. This product will feed the Caremag refinery in France, a joint venture backed by $350 million in French and Japanese funding. The partnership also triggers a feasibility study for an 8,000-tonne-per-annum oxide separation plant in Kazakhstan, targeting magnet-grade neodymium-praseodymium oxide. This is supported by Lindian's Kangankunde mine in Malawi, which is fully funded for first production later this year.