Lynas Whiplash Shows Plant Start-Up Jitters

The roller coaster ride experienced by Lynas Corp. (LYC.AU) shares over the last hour of trade in Sydney may be unfair, but it's revealing of concerns around the rare earths miner. Lynas is still awaiting a string of licenses to process its ores at a plant in Malaysia, and shares fell 13% in 12 minutes Wednesday after Dow Jones Newswires quoted Malaysian government officials saying it hadn't yet been granted an import license. The announcement was meant to refute rumors among anti-plant activists that it already had this license, but the speed and scale of the drop suggests fears that the plant will be blocked are running hot. Lynas says it doesn't expect word on the licenses for some weeks and to start production early next year. There's serious political risk here and the downside could be colossal, but the stock is already down 60% in two months and looks cheap at the levels of its close at A$1.09.