DTEC Mineral and Metal Technology, a US majority owned startup, plans to invest 600 million dollars in a rare earth refinery in Malaysia, chief executive Milan Perlly said in an interview. The first plant, targeted within three years, would process 5,000 metric tons of rare earth material a year, and the company ultimately aims at two facilities with combined capacity of 10,000 tons a year, one on each coast of peninsular Malaysia.
DTEC recently became the first company permitted under Malaysia’s eased export rules to ship unprocessed rare earth material to the United States. The permit covers up to 700 tons of rare earth carbonate from Perak state, with an initial shipment of about 30 tons for research by US companies and institutions. Malaysia banned raw rare earth exports in 2024 to protect domestic resources, and government estimates put its rare earth resources at 16.1 million tons, much of it not yet proven commercially viable.
Perlly said the company has received an expression of support from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for potential financing of up to 650 million dollars for the refinery. EXIM and the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately comment on that claim, and no confirmed financing arrangement has been disclosed.
Ownership underlines the cross border structure: Perlly and his partner David Greer hold 51 percent, and Malaysian firm DTEC Engineering and Construction holds 49 percent. Sites are not final; the company has held talks with officials in Kedah, Terengganu, Perak and Negeri Sembilan, and it says it wants eventually to mine Malaysian ionic clay deposits itself.