‘Don’t turn our cattle into cats,’ Malaysians tell Australia’s Lynas Corporation

Lynas should take its rare earth plant back to Australia. Malaysians will NOT let this plant operate.

Well, looking back it would be so much better to build this plant in Australia. It looks like Malaysians will keep extracting money from Lynas shareholders forever. Good lesson for everyone trying to build a business in Malaysia.

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The reason why Lynas is doing it in Malaysia in that particular area is that the chemicals required for the operations are nearby and also it is more cost effective as labour is cheaper in Malaysia than in Australia. It gives Lynas the opportunity to save money and also helps the Malaysian government and Malaysian people to get richer but I suppose it is not a good idea to invest in your country as it is too hard for you to understand the benefits to both Lynas and the to Malaysia. Did you know that the rules in Australia towards mining are actually less strict than Malaysia! Also did you know that in Australia, there have not been any cases of radiation or cattle turned into cats. in fact Australia got the best cattle in the world and for that matter, the cleanest and the best food in the world. Also they call Australia the lucky country. Malaysia has the opportunity now to have strong ties with Australia, as Lynas is going to play a big role in the world while we are sitting back, China is going to have big control over rare earth. If we act now, Malaysia and Australia will work together to both be stronger and to make money. The other benefit is malaysia will have the biggest refinery of rare earth in the world. This will attract a lot of computer makers, televisions etc to be based in Malaysia as the product will be in Malaysia. This will create so many jobs. It will be possibly one of the biggest turnaround for Malaysia. I totally agree with the Malaysian people on the radiation issue. Although I have a significant amount of interest in lynas, Lynas is not a radioactive plant. The Malaysian experts and government officials have confirmed that the radiation level is at safety level. They have confirmed that the amount of radiation released inside the plant from extracting rare earth is the same as the amount of radiation released from the High definition TV, is less than the amount of raditation released from the cooking microwave oven and that is inside the plant. And this radiation was restricted inside the plant, not outside. In fact, you get more radiation going to an electrical store where they are demonstrating televisions than being inside the Lynas refinery. 1.LYNAS ANSWERSFALSE ALLEGATIONS ABOUT LAMP
2.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsRegulations1. Lynas takes advantage of weaknesses in Lynas adheres to all Malaysian and Australian regulations and Malaysian regulations by proposing International standards. Malaysian regulations are equivalent Chinese standards – FALSE to, and in some cases stricter than international standards.2. Australian regulations restrict construction There is no such regulation in Australia or international law. of a rare earths processing plant within The nearest town to Lynas’ Mt Weld mine is Laverton, which is 35km radius of residential areas – FALSE 35 km away. This distance has been misrepresented as an Australian regulatory requirement.3. Lynas is planning to import rare earths Lynas respects and abides by all Malaysian Government concentrate without a license – FALSE conditions, regulations and limitations. Lynas has no plans to import rare earths concentrate until a license is granted. Lynas imports equipment and construction materials on a regular basis.
3.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsRegulations4. Lynas came to Malaysia to avoid the Lynas came to Malaysia for economic reasons. strict Australian regulations – FALSE Gebeng is a well established, petro-chemical industrial park which has access to port facilities, high grade chemicals, a well educated and skilled work force, reliable utilities and very good infrastructure. Malaysian regulations are equal to, and in some cases, stricter than Australian regulations.5. Lynas was chased out from Lynas received approvals from the Malaysian Terengganu due to environmental authorities, AELB and DOE, for its original proposed reasons – FALSE site in Terengganu. Lynas met all the environmental and regulatory requirements.
4.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsRadiological & Environment1. Lynas is a nuclear plant – FALSE Lynas is NOT a nuclear plant. It is a chemical processing plant. Lynas processes and operations are standard for the chemical industry, and similar to other plants in the Gebeng industrial park.2. Lynas is the same as Mitsubishi Asian Rare There is no comparison. Lynas Rare Earths Concentrate Earth (ARE) in Bukit Merah – FALSE contains naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), similar to many other mineral concentrates processed around the world. ARE’s raw material was “monazite” from amang (tin tailings) which contains 37 times more radioactivity than Lynas Mount Weld raw material. The waste residue from monazite processing is 60 times more radioactive.3. The environment will be polluted because Site preparation work has been extensive. Two meters of top the plant is located on swamp land with a soil was removed and replenished. Piling and reinforcement shallow water table – FALSE exceeds requirements. The Residue Storage Facility is built above ground level, with high density plastic lining and a clay layer. Monitoring equipment is installed to detect any risk of leakage.
5.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsRadiological & Environment4. Lynas will cause radioactive rain from the Lynas will not cause radioactive rain. There is no significant gas released by the stack – FALSE exposure , nor health and safety risk from Lynas emissions to air. But to address people’s concerns, Lynas has installed European air monitoring equipment on site and in town to measure and clearly demonstrate to everyone that it will cause zero harm.5. The plant uses a lot of acid that can The facilities are built to Malaysian and international contaminate the soil – FALSE standards for chemical plants, to ensure containment of all process materials. All LAMP process areas are built on bunded concrete structures, so any acid spill would be contained in the bund and will not come into contact with the ground.6. Lynas plant will pollute the river with Thorium is not soluble in water from the site. Thorium is radioactive material – FALSE chemically extracted from the process water and contained in the Residue Storage Facility, which meets all international standards for safe storage and handling.7. Lynas did not carry out any study on Lynas included a radiation exposure study (for external as internal radiation exposure – FALSE well as internal radiation exposure) in its all its Radiation Impact Assessments, as per the AELB and international requirements.
6.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsRadiological & Environment9. Pahang tourism industry, fishing A Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) industry and small to medium confirms Lynas will NOT pose radiological risk to sized businesses will suffer from the public or the environment – estimated Lynas operation – FALSE exposures of 0.002mSv/year compared to 1.0 mSv/year public exposure which is the allowable standard under Malaysian or international regulations.
7.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsRadiological & Environment11. Radon and Thoron can travel The IAEA independent review of LAMP assessed thousands of miles and cause health emissions to air, water and land. This important review problems – FALSE concluded that LAMP does not present a public health exposure risk. It is important to note that radon and thoron are gases with very short half lives, and cannot travel thousand of miles and cause health problems. But to address public concerns, LAMP has installed two Aerosol Monitoring Systems (AMS) on site and in Kuantan to continuously monitor, measure, and clearly demonstrate to everyone that it will cause zero harm.12. No level of radioactivity is safe – Radiation is all around us. Radiation is used in the FALSE. field of medicine every day. There is low level radiation from appliances we use every day such as televisions, radios, computers and light globes.
8.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsEconomy1. Lynas brings no benefits to • Employment: direct employees 350, contract Malaysia and Kuantan – FALSE staff 300, indirect employment by supporting industries > 1000 • FDI value of RM 2.3 billion with annual operating expenditure of RM 600 million. Total contracts available to Malaysian contractors is RM 1,168 million of which RM 513 million is for locally based contractors in the Kuantan area • Potential downstream applications in rare earths – joint ventures may create additional employment for 1200
9.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsWaste Management1. The waste residue will be stored The Residue Storage Facility at the Gebeng site is permanently at the Gebeng site – only for temporary storage. However it is designed and FALSE built to international standards suitable for permanent storage. Permanent storage may not be required as Lynas is actively developing their potential for re-use and recycling in commercial applications.2. Lynas produces 32,000 tons of WLP This allegation implies that Lynas is extracting or per year with 0.165% Thorium i.e. 50 concentrating the Thorium in the water leached tons of Thorium per year – purification residue (WLP). Lynas is neither extracting MISLEADING & CAUSING FEAR nor concentrating the thorium content. The concentration remains the same.
10.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsWaste Management3. Lynas declares the residue as non Lynas has always adhered to international and AELB radioactive based on China’s standards in the handling and storage of waste standards of 74 Bq/g – FALSE residues. Only one of the Lynas waste residues contains a very low level of radioactivity at 6 Bq/g4. Australia requires waste to be There is no such law in Australia. There are many returned to the mine – FALSE examples of mineral concentrates containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) that are transported across Australia and around the world. Waste residues are not required to be returned to the point of origin when they can be safely stored, reused or recycled.
11.FALSE Allegations by Opponents of the LAMPAllegations FactsOthers1. Lynas Malaysia is managed by Lynas Malaysia is staffed and managed by Australians – FALSE Malaysians. The team comprises Malaysian and international technical experts, including five with specific experience in the Rare Earth industry