DTEC Mineral and Metal Technology plans to invest $600m in a rare-earth refinery in Malaysia within three years, CEO Milan Perlly told Bloomberg.

The US majority-owned startup said the planned refinery would be designed to process 5,000 metric tonnes of rare-earth material annually.

Perlly said the company’s longer-term target is to establish two plants in Malaysia with total yearly capacity of 10,000t.

According to the report, DTEC Mineral recently became the first company to receive approval under Malaysia’s relaxed export rules to send unprocessed rare-earth material to the US.

The company is reviewing possible sites following discussions with officials in Kedah, Terengganu, Perak and Negeri Sembilan.

Perlly said DTEC Mineral plans to develop locally sourced ionic-clay deposits and later run its own mine in Malaysia.

“The larger goal is to make Malaysia the rare-earth elements processing hub for ionic clay in the region”, Perlly was quoted as saying.

The company is also preparing to send about 30t of unprocessed rare-earth material to the US for research after obtaining approval to export as much as 700t.

Perlly said the shipment is meant to identify the material’s composition and the most appropriate processing technology.

DTEC Mineral is 51% owned by Perlly, a Malaysian-born US citizen and former Capital One employee, together with business partner David Greer.

Malaysian company DTEC Engineering and Construction owns the remaining 49%.

Perlly also said the company is seeking a stock market listing in Malaysia and on either Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.

DTEC was part of a trade and critical minerals pact signed last year between US President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Under that agreement, the company is eligible for funding from the Export–Import Bank of the US, the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Department of Defense.