- Lynas (LYC) will provide more information to Malaysian authorities as it looks to resume its application to build a facility for its low-level radioactive waste
- Malaysia’s Department of Environment (DOE) has listed Lynas’ Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application for the facility as rejected
- However, the company said it is only due to the expiry of an initial 12-week assessment period
- Such waste has been a contentious issue, with activists protesting for years against Lynas’ operations in the country
- Lynas is down 3.51 per cent to $5.22 per share
Lynas (LYC) will provide more information to Malaysian authorities as it looks to resume its application to build a facility for its low-level radioactive waste.
Malaysia’s Department of Environment (DOE) has listed Lynas’ Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application for the facility — which was submitted on January 26 — as rejected.
However, the company said it is only due to the expiry of an initial 12-week assessment period.
Lynas — which is the biggest rare earths producer outside of China — claims it has been advised by the DOE that once the additional information is received, the assessment of the EIA application will resume.
Lynas was granted a three-year licence renewal from Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) in February last year to operate its $800 million plant in the east-coast town of Kuantan.
The renewal came with a number of conditions, including building a cracking and leaching facility outside of Malaysia before July 2023, after which the company will not be allowed to import raw materials containing naturally occurring radioactive material.
Lynas would also need to build a permanent disposal facility to deal with the waste from its rare earths processing within one year of the licence renewal, for which the EIA was submitted.
“The Lynas plant in Malaysia continues to operate in accordance with the three-year operating licence issued by the AELB,” the company said in a statement.
“An EIA study of the proposed site for the PDF is a requirement of the AELB licencing process.”
Such waste has been a contentious issue, with activists protesting for years against Lynas’ operations in the country.
Lynas is down 3.51 per cent to $5.22 per share at 4:20 pm AEST.