Lynas, Siemens to form joint venture for rare earth elements

Australian rare earths mining company Lynas Corp will form a joint venture with Germany's Siemens in a move that will help Gerrman engineering giant secure a long-term source of rare earth elements to produce neodymium-based magnets.

Under a letter of intent to form a joint venture signed by both companies yesterday, Sydney-based Lynas will own 45 per cent of the venture, while Siemens, Europe's largest engineering company, will hold the remaining 55 per cent.

Siemens said that the joint venture will secure a sustainable end-to-end supply chain from mine to magnet to end application, but the details of the partnership are currently being developed.

''This planned joint venture would be an important strategic pillar for us to pursue a long-term and stable supply with high performance magnets,'' said, Ralf-Michael Franke, chief executive of Siemens' drive technologies division.

Siemens' drive technologies division is one of the world's biggest innovators in energy-efficient technologies and is the world's leading supplier of products, systems, applications and services for the entire drive train with electrical and mechanical components and motion control systems for production machinery as well as machine tools.

The division generated sales $9.34 billion last year.