Activists demand transparency over Malaysia’s move to extend Australian miner’s operations

Environmental activists voiced disappointment yesterday at Malaysia’s decision to allow Lynas Rare Earths to continue operations until March 2026, and demanded more transparency on plans by the Australian miner to extract a radioactive element from its growing waste.

The government Tuesday said it allowed Lynas to continue to import and process rare earths at its refinery in central Pahang state, reversing a decision for such activities to halt by Jan. 1. This came after Lynas proposed a method to draw out thorium, the radioactive element, from raw feedstock and from over a million tons of waste accumulated at its refinery.

Activist Wong Tack said the government should have first compelled Lynas to prove that its proposal could work by immediately removing thorium from its existing waste.

“It is extremely irresponsible of the (science) minister to extend Lynas’ license and allow them to generate more waste when the existing waste has not been safely dealt with,” he said.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth Malaysia said it was baffled as the government’s U-turn was based merely on a preliminary laboratory study by Lynas. It called for details of the Lynas study to be made public.