PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Lynas will be launching legal appeals in Malaysia, despite the Atomic Energy Licensing Board having renewed the company’s operating licence for a period of three years, effective from March 3, 2023.

Lynas on Tuesday told shareholders that the operating licence was renewed with no changes to the conditions imposed in March 2020, prohibiting the import and processing of lanthanide concentrate after July 2023.

Lynas applied to the Malaysian regulator for the removal of these conditions as they represent a significant variation from the conditions under which the previous four operating licences were issued and under which Lynas made the initial decision to invest in Malaysia.

The company told shareholders in a statement that the conditions did not follow the recommendations of the 2018 Executive Review Committee report on Lynas Malaysia’s operations.

If not removed by July 2023, these conditions will require the closure of the cracking and leaching component of the Lynas Malaysia plant.

Other processes at the Lynas Malaysia plant are not covered by these conditions and will continue with new feedstock sourced from Lynas’ Kalgoorlie rare processing facility once operational.

“After 10 years of safe operation in Malaysia we are disappointed that the conditions that were applied to our 2020 operating licence remain. This is our sixth operating licence and the four licences granted prior to 2020 did not include these conditions,” said CEO and MD Amanda Lacaze.

“While these conditions do not come into effect until July 2023, they are inconsistent with the conditions upon which Lynas was invited to invest in Malaysia and the recommendations of four independent scientific reviews, each of which has found our Malaysian operations to be low risk and compliant with regulations.

“We will now proceed with administrative and legal appeals to ensure that Lynas is treated fairly and equitably as a foreign direct investor and a significant employer and contributor to the Malaysian economy.”

The Lynas Malaysia plant is the world’s largest single rare earths processing facility and the only scale producer of separated rare earths outside China.