PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths miner Lynas has been named in three individual judicial review proceedings in the Malaysian High Court.
The three individual applicants, who have all previously lodged court challenges to Lynas’ operations in Malaysia, have now questioned the Malaysian government’s decision to renew Lynas’ full operating licence in the country.
In addition to Lynas, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, along with 27 other Ministers and Cabinet Members, as well as the government of Malaysia and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board, have all been named in the proceedings.
The Malaysian government in August last year renewed Lynas’ operating licence for an initial six-month period, imposing a number of conditions on the company, including the relocation of cracking and leaching activities offshore.
Furthermore, the ASX-listed company will be required to build a permanent deposit facility for the water leach purification (WLP) residue within six months. Alternatively, the company could obtain consent from another country to receive the material.
Under the new operating licence Lynas’ 0.5% spend of its annual gross sales would revert from research and development to the government of Malaysia as an additional security until cracking and leaching operations have started in Australia.
Lynas on Friday assured shareholders that the company was compliant with all the laws and regulations in effect in Malaysia, and that its operations had been subjected to four independent scientific reviews, including two from the International Atomic Energy Agency and a report by the current government’s independent scientific committee.