(Kitco News) - Rare earths producer Lynas (ASX: LYC, OTC:LYSDY) confirmed today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Lynas Malaysia has received notice that the Atomic Energy Licensing Board has agreed to approve the application for renewal of Lynas Malaysia’s operating licence effective from 3 March 2023 for a period of 3 years.
The company said that the operating licence has been renewed with no change to the licence conditions that were first applied to the licence issued in March 2020, adding that these conditions prohibit the import and processing of lanthanide concentrate after 1 July 2023.
The company noted that its Lynas Malaysia plant is the world’s largest single rare earths processing facility and the only scale producer of separated rare earths outside China.
“This provides a unique foundation for the development of future industries in Malaysia and the closure of a key part of the plant will put further investment in the plant, the Malaysian rare earths industry and foreign investment at risk,” the company said in a press release.
According to a company statement, Malaysia offers administrative and legal avenues for the review of the licence conditions and Lynas will seek review through these processes in respect of the conditions.
CEO and Managing Director Amanda Lacaze commented, “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.
“While these conditions do not come into effect until 1 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,” she said.
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