The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is enjoying a solid start to the week so far this Monday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up a healthy 0.49% at just over 7,530 points. But that's nothing against the Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX: LYC) share price.
Lynas shares are currently up a pleasing 2.61% at $11.38. What's more, this company hit a new 52-week high of $11.59 a share earlier in today's trading session. Not only is $11.59 a new 52-week high, but it's also the highest Lynas shares have traded at since March of 2012 – almost exactly a decade ago.
Lynas' performance over the last few years has been quite extraordinary. The company has now gained more than 76% over just the past six months alone. Over the past year, Lynas is up almost 81%. It gets better. Since the lows of March 2020, the company has appreciated by more than 800%. And over the past five years, Lynas shares have given investors a whopping 1,190% return.
So what might be behind today's share price move?
Why is the Lynas share price at a decade high?
Well, it's not entirely clear. There haven't been any announcements out of Lynas itself. Perhaps investors, buoyed by the buying pressure in the market, are sending Lynas shares higher in a bout of enthusiasm. Investors have been very excited over companies that produce green metals, which include the rare earths like neodymium that Lynas produces. In addition to Lynas, other companies in this space have also seen some pretty spectacular gains in recent months. These include Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT), Liontown Resources Limited (ASX: LTR), Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) and AVZ Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ).
We also got the news last week that the US government and the Australian government are working together to fund secure supply chains of critical minerals like lithium, vanadium, neodymium and praseodymium. The latter two minerals are both rare earths that Lynas produces. Thus, this agreement could prove to be beneficial to Lynas in coming months and years.
Whatever the reason why Lynas shares are shooting higher today, there is no doubt a legion of very happy shareholders watching on right now.
At the current Lynas Rare Earths share price, this ASX 200 share has a market capitalisation of $10.01 billion.
