Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Lynas has received a new three-year operating licence for its Malaysian operation, giving the company leave to operate until March 2023.
The new operating licence is subject to a number of conditions, including Lynas beginning the process to develop a permanent disposal facility (PDF) within the first year from the date of the licence approval, and the company submitting a work development plan for the construction of the PDF and report its development status as determined by the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).
Furthermore, Lynas will have to ensure that its cracking and leaching plant outside of Malaysia is in operation before July 2023, after which time the company would not be allowed to import raw materials containing naturally occurring radioactive material into Malaysia.
Additionally, the financial deposit from Lynas continue to be held for compliance with the relevant licence conditions.
Lynas MD and CEO Amanda Lacaze on Thursday thanked the AELB for its decision to renew the operating licence.
“We reaffirm the company’s commitment to our people, 97% of whom are Malaysian, and to contributing to Malaysia’s shared prosperity vision 2030.
“Over the past eight years, we have demonstrated that our operations are safe and that we are an excellent foreign direct investor. We have created over 1 000 direct jobs, 90% of which are skilled or semiskilled, and we spend over RM600-million in the local economy each year,” Lacaze pointed out.
She also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to develop a new cracking and leaching facility in Western Australia, where rare earth concentrate from the Mt Weld operation would be upgraded.
The plant is expected to be operational by early 2023, and will employ some 200 staff during its operations.