KOTA BARU: The Kelantan state government is exploring the potential of rare earth elements (REE) identified in an area covering approximately 1,400 hectares near Ladang Subong, Gua Musang.
State Local Government, Housing, Health and Environment Committee chairman Hilmi Abdullah said the project is still at the exploration and sampling stage to determine the actual potential of the REE deposits before any commercial mining activities are carried out.
"This effort is being implemented in collaboration with Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (Jogmec).
"The state government is also currently in the process of granting approvals to government-linked companies (GLCs) and state agencies interested in participating in this effort,” he told reporters after officiating the opening of the Kelstone Cosmos Laboratory at the Bandar Baru Tunjong Business Centre here today.
The collaboration is being carried out through a government-to-government (G2G) approach and involves land owned by the Perbadanan Kemajuan Iktisad Negeri Kelantan (PKINK), which has been identified as having high potential for REE industry development, he added.
"The state government has issued a Proprietary Mining Licence for exploration purposes, but any mining activities are subject to approval of the Operational Mining Scheme, monitoring by the Department of Minerals and Geoscience Malaysia and an Environmental Impact Assessment.
"We want to ensure that the development of the REE industry in Kelantan progresses to the downstream stage but is implemented in a controlled manner and complies with environmental standards,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another development, Hilmi said illegal mining activities in the state are not serious and remain under control as such activities only involve certain districts.
"We have a special task force to monitor these activities, including having seized several machines involved in these unlicensed operations,” he said.
In an incident at about 6.30pm last Wednesday, two men died after being buried in a landslide believed to have occurred while they were illegally mining gold in an oil palm plantation area in Kampung Jerimbong, Kuala Balah, Jeli. - Bernama
