KUANTAN: Lynas Rare Earths Ltd will seek a review of the conditions for its Malaysian operation’s licence after the government maintained that the company will no longer be allowed to produce radioactive waste in Malaysia by July.
Its chief executive officer and managing director Amanda Lacaze expressed disappointment over the decision.
“After 10 years of safe operations in Malaysia, we are disappointed that the conditions that were applied to our 2020 operating licence remain. This is our sixth operating licence and the four licences granted prior to 2020 did not include these conditions.
“While these conditions do not come into effect until July 1, they are inconsistent with the conditions upon which Lynas was invited to invest in Malaysia, and the recommendations of four independent scientific reviews, each of which has found our Malaysian operations to be low risk and compliant with regulations,” she said in a statement yesterday.
Lacaze said Lynas would now proceed with administrative and legal appeals to ensure that Lynas was treated fairly and equitably as a foreign direct investor and a significant employer and contributor to the Malaysian economy.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said Lynas had been informed of the decision by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), where its request to drop four conditions related to cracking and leaching activities, the generation of water leach purification (WLP) residues, and the importation of lanthanide concentrates from Australia, was not considered.
This meant Lynas would no longer be allowed to carry out activities that would produce radioactive waste in Malaysia after July.
Lynas said it had received notice from AELB that its application for renewal of Lynas Malaysia’s operating licence had been approved effective from March 3 for a period of three years.
The Australian rare earth materials producer said the licence had been renewed with no change to the conditions that were first applied to the licence issued in March 2020.
Lynas said it had applied to the regulator for the removal of those conditions as they represented a significant variation from the conditions under which the previous four operating licences were issued, and under which Lynas made the initial decision to invest in Malaysia.
“The conditions do not follow the recommendations of the 2018 Executive Review Committee report on Lynas Malaysia’s operations.
“If not removed by July 1, these conditions will require the closure of the cracking and leaching component of the Lynas Malaysia plant,” the company said in the statement.
It added that other processes at the Lynas Malaysia plant were not covered by those conditions, and would continue with new feedstock sourced from Lynas’ Kalgoorlie rare earth processing facility once operational.
“Lynas has been operating safely in Gebeng, Malaysia, for over 10 years, and four independent scientific reviews, including two reviews by the International Atomic Energy Agency, have found the plant to be low risk and compliant with relevant regulation.
“The rare earths Lynas produces are essential inputs to future facing technologies required for energy transition.
“The Lynas Malaysia plant is the world’s largest single rare earths processing facility and the only scale producer of separated rare earths outside China.
“This provides a unique foundation for the development of future industries in Malaysia and the closure of a key part of the plant will put further investment in the plant, the Malaysian rare earths industry and foreign investment at risk,” said the company.
