Lynas yet to be notified on operating licence renewal

KUANTAN: Australian rare earth materials producer Lynas has yet to be notified of any decision on its Malaysian operations' licence renewal.

The current three-year term of Lynas Malaysia's operating licence is set to expire in March.

"Lynas Rare Earths Ltd notes recent media speculation regarding the conditions applicable to Lynas Malaysia’s operating licence renewal.

"At this time, the company has not been notified of any decision by the Malaysian regulator in this matter," it said in a statement on Monday (Feb 13).

It had been reported by several media outlets that the government would likely insist that Lynas stick to the condition of ending the accumulation of mildly radioactive residue from its rare earth processing in Malaysia by July.

Under the conditions of its licence renewed under then Pakatan Harapan government in 2020, Lynas was expected to develop a permanent disposal facility (PDF) to store its water leach purification residue.

It must also ensure that a cracking and leaching plant outside Malaysia would be in operation before July 2023.

After that period, Lynas would no longer be allowed to import raw materials containing naturally occurring radioactive material into Malaysia.

In its quarterly activities report in January, Lynas said capital works were underway at Lynas Malaysia to receive and process mixed rare earth carbonate feedstock to be produced at its new Kalgoorlie rare earths processing facility in the state of Western Australia.

It said progress on major construction activities accelerated at the Kalgoorlie facility during the quarter.

Meanwhile, construction of the off-site PDF in Malaysia was continuing, it said.