The Volcano Core
Mount Weld in Western Australia is the remnant of an ancient volcano (carbonatite). The weathering of this rock has created a super-concentrated zone of rare earth phosphates.
The Lynas Connection
Lynas Rare Earths mines the ore here but ships it all the way to Malaysia (the LAMP facility) for processing. This separation of mine and refinery allowed Lynas to become the only significant non-Chinese supplier of separated rare earth oxides for nearly a decade.