South Korea’s LS Eco Energy, under South Korea’s giant LS Cable & System, in a cooperation with Australia’s Lynas Rare Earth, will build a rare earth metal factory in Vietnam, the Australian firm announced Thursday.
The two companies have entered into a framework agreement, in order to work towards a definitive long-term arrangement for metal processing at a new rare earth metal manufacturing facility. The facility is set to be built by LS Eco Energy in Vietnam.
The planned facility can expand Lynas’ existing operations, which convert rare earth oxides into metals used in permanent magnet production. The new site can support growing demand for rare earth metals and enlarge Lynas’ supply of metalized neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) and selected heavy rare earth products, including samarium, dysprosium, and terbium. The factory can enter production in stages, with an initial priority for samarium metal.
Lynas and LS Eco Energy will also have separate definitive agreements on cross-subscription of convertible instruments between the two companies, valued at approximately AUD$30 million ($20.9 million) each.
In December 2025, LS Eco Energy said it would invest KRW28.5 billion ($19.26 million) more in its rare earth metals business in Vietnam. It would utilize the proceeds to build rare earth metal processing facilities in Vietnam.
In the March 2025 edition of its Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 report, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under the U.S. Department of the Interior, said Vietnam’s rare earth reserve was 3.5 million tons. The figure is one-sixth of 22 million tons said in its the 2024 edition of the report.