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Malaysia on Tuesday amended Lynas Rare Earths’ operating license to allow the Australian firm to import raw materials containing natural radioactive material and process rare earths until March 2026.
The extension of the license comes despite concerns raised in recent years by Malaysia regarding radiation levels from the cracking and leaching operations during raw material processing.
Science and technology minister Chang Lih Kang said Lynas will be allowed to import radioactive material and continue processing rare earths, provided the firm carries out thorium extraction to remove radioactive waste.
“It’s not a softening of position…It gels well with our original intention to not allow continued radioactive waste,” Chang said at a press conference.
Lynas had earlier been permitted to import and process lanthanide concentrate, which contains the radioactive material, until January 2024.
Lynas, the world’s largest producer of rare earths outside China, has previously said that two International Atomic Energy Agency reviews found the plant to be low risk and compliant with relevant regulations.
In a statement, Lynas said the change to its license will allow its Malaysian facility to continue to import and process lanthanide concentrate from its mine in Western Australia.
Lynas also said it will commit to increasing its existing research and development investment in Malaysia to 1% from 0.5% of Lynas Malaysia’s gross sales.
The program will be overseen by the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board and be directed towards developing methods for removal of naturally occurring radioactive material from residues, it said.
(By Rozanna Latiff, Danial Azhar and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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