The Malaysian environment ministry has said it wants to discuss ways to manage the low-level radioactive residue produced by Lynas at its rare earth processing plant.
Freeport agreed to build a copper smelter in Indonesia within five years of closing a deal last December with the Indonesian government on the operatorship of the giant Grasberg copper mine.
Gold futures in India, the world's second-biggest bullion consumer after China, hit their highest level since March 1, at 32,834 rupees per 10 grams, earlier this week.