Australian rare earths mining firm Lynas Corp remained confident demand for its rare earths will eventually pick up in the medium term as it announced it had been able to produce a full suite of rare earths products in the first quarter of 2013.

In its quarterly report for the second quarter of 2013 released on Friday, Lynas said its processing plant facility in Malaysia is now ramping up towards a capacity of 11,000 tonnes per annum by the end of the second quarter.

The rare earths mining firm likewise remained confident that global prices of the precious commodities will pick up as more and more technologies get invented. It said prices dropped 13 per cent versus the previous quarter, which translated to an average Mount Weld basket price of US$37.22 per kg in the first quarter.

"Lynas has projected rare earths demand to grow at above-GDP rates over the medium term driven by increases in demand from key sectors such as rare earths permanent magnets, autocatalysts and fluid cracking catalysts," the company said, noting the three markets will account for half of global rare earths demand by 2015.

It reported a total of 15,593 dry tonnes of rare earths concentrate, representing 5,540 tonnes of rare earths oxides (REO), were bagged over the quarter at the concentration plant near the Mt Weld mine in Western Australia, ready for export.

Lynas likewise said the Phase 2 capacity expansion of its plant was nearing completion, which would see expansion to increase to 22,000 tonnes per year of REO.

The miner said it had $172 million of unrestricted cash-on-hand as of the end of March following a capital raising late last year, as well as a $15.2 million research and development grant from the Australian Tax Office.

Net operating cash flow loss for the March quarter was reported at $15.8 million and $68.9 million year-to-date.