KUANTAN: Lynas Corp is still awaiting formal notification from the government on the conditions for renewing its Malaysian plant's operating licence.
The rare earth materials producer said in a statement on Friday (Aug 2() that the Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (Mestecc) Minister had stated on July 9 that the decision would be made by Cabinet and announced in mid-August.
"While we await formal notification from the Malaysian government, Lynas is prudently conducting preliminary work on the outcomes that have been the subject of media speculation, including preliminary work on locations for a permanent disposal facility (PDF) for our water leach purification (WLP) residue," said company secretary Andrew Arnold.
He said this was a continuation of the work completed previously, including the Lynas PDF Planning Framework that was approved by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board in 2014, following the Pahang government's consent for Lynas to locate a PDF in the state.
Arnold also said the status remained as set out in the company's quarterly report released on July 29.
In the report, Lynas said it was confident of a resolution to the remaining issues related to its WLP residue.
"We continue to work with the Malaysian government to seek agreement on conditions for the renewal of our operating licence which is due on Sept 2, 2019.
"We have applied for renewal of the operating licence, and other work relating to the renewal of our operating license is being completed in line with normal licence renewal processes," said the company.
Lynas also said it had announced an agreed pathway for the management of the neutralisation underflow (NUF) residue, including commercialisation options and long term NUF disposal.
"We understand that Mestecc may postpone finalisation of the NUF solution until finalisation of the conditions for renewal of our operating licence.
"In the meantime, NUF is stored at the Lynas Malaysia plant in residue storage facilities that comply with international guidelines, pursuant to rolling monthly permissions from the Department of Environment," it said.
The rare earth materials producer said in a statement on Friday (Aug 2() that the Deputy Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (Mestecc) Minister had stated on July 9 that the decision would be made by Cabinet and announced in mid-August.
"While we await formal notification from the Malaysian government, Lynas is prudently conducting preliminary work on the outcomes that have been the subject of media speculation, including preliminary work on locations for a permanent disposal facility (PDF) for our water leach purification (WLP) residue," said company secretary Andrew Arnold.
He said this was a continuation of the work completed previously, including the Lynas PDF Planning Framework that was approved by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board in 2014, following the Pahang government's consent for Lynas to locate a PDF in the state.
Arnold also said the status remained as set out in the company's quarterly report released on July 29.
In the report, Lynas said it was confident of a resolution to the remaining issues related to its WLP residue.
"We continue to work with the Malaysian government to seek agreement on conditions for the renewal of our operating licence which is due on Sept 2, 2019.
"We have applied for renewal of the operating licence, and other work relating to the renewal of our operating license is being completed in line with normal licence renewal processes," said the company.
Lynas also said it had announced an agreed pathway for the management of the neutralisation underflow (NUF) residue, including commercialisation options and long term NUF disposal.
"We understand that Mestecc may postpone finalisation of the NUF solution until finalisation of the conditions for renewal of our operating licence.
"In the meantime, NUF is stored at the Lynas Malaysia plant in residue storage facilities that comply with international guidelines, pursuant to rolling monthly permissions from the Department of Environment," it said.
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