Rare metals mining can provide steady source of revenue, says Perak MB

IPOH: There are many rare metals and minerals in Perak that the state can mine as a source of revenue, says Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.

The Perak Mentri Besar said apart from the non-radioactive rare earth elements (NR-REE) like lanthanide, the state also has many other types of minerals and rare metals like kaolin and tungsten.

"It's only lanthanide that we are currently promoting," he said in a press conference after the Perak Sejahtera 2030 launch anniversary celebration at the Ipoh Convention Centre here on Thursday (June 15).

"In Perak, we don't have bauxite but we have other minerals.

"We will mine these sustainably without impacting the environment," he said.

Earlier in his speech, Saarani said the state was on the right track towards making the Perak Sejahtera 2030 development roadmap a success.

He said investments into the state were encouraging, with investments of over RM7bil in the second quarter of 2023.

"This is about five times the investment value we had in the same period last year.

"In 2022, some 294 investment projects were approved worth a total of RM6.6bil," he said, adding that 7,682 job opportunities were created.

"About RM2.28bil were direct foreign investments while RM4.32bil were from local investors.

"The state has received plenty of high-impact investments, including the RM32bil Automotive High-Tech Valley in Tanjung Malim, a RM300mil electronic factory in Seri Iskandar and the RM100mil mineral processing plant in Silver Valley Technology Park," he added.