The venture will be majority owned by Lynas, the companies said in a joint statement. The deal has been struck as Lynas faces regulatory issues at its processing plant in Malaysia, and fends off a $1.5 billion takeover offer from Wesfarmers Ltd Chief executive officer Amanda Lacaze told Reuters in a phone interview that the US venture was a specific market opportunity and would complement its operations in Malaysia. The venture would allow Lynas to close a "critical" supply chain gap for US manufacturers. It's "an important reflection of the fact that countries all around the world are keen to have rare earths processing capabilities," Ms Lacaze said. "Electric vehicle manufacturers are looking for security of supply of the heavy rare earths as well as on the light rare earths and this provides that opportunity," she said. Lynas is the world's only major producer of rare earth minerals outside China.