Malaysia cannot force rare earths miner Lynas Corp to leave despite opposition from members of the Pakatan Harapan coalition who fear the risk of radioactivity from waste from the processing plant.
Reuters today says the Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes the government cannot push the Australian firm away.
Speaking to reporters in Japan, Dr Mahathir says the 600 Malaysian employees at the plant in the state of Pahang were not afraid to keep working there, state news agency Bernama reported.
The Australian company has been running the plant in Malaysia since 2012 using rare earths mined from Mount Weld in Western Australia.
Dr Mahathir gave his consent to renew the firm’s license despite leading a coalition of parties that has campaigned against Lynas for years.
Lynas had invested more than RM1 billion on its operations in Malaysia and made several representations with Dr Mahathir.
Party Keadilan Rakyat or Justice Party members are opposing the renewal of the company’s licence unless the Aussie owners repatriate the radioactive materials back to Australia.
The processing of the rare earth minerals is said to produce radioactive waste which some do not want to be stored in Malaysia.
Dr Mahathir also says investors are watching how Malaysia deals with the Lynas conundrum.
Lynas is the only significant rare earth producer outside China. Rare earth is the name for a group of 17 metals used in batteries, computers, televisions and smartphones.
The product is currently at the centre of the growing trade war between the US and China. China controls most of the rare earth production and has threatened to use it a weapon in the trade war against the US.
To reporters Dr Mahathir says the 600 Malaysian employees at the plant in the state of Pahang were not afraid to keep working there.
“We invite them and then we kick them out. Others will say the country made a promise but, when there is a problem, we kick them out … we cannot do that,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama.
Lynas shares were up 3% at A$2.89 on Friday.
It is also possible that Malaysia will extend Lynas’ licence to operate the plant by a Sept 2 deadline.
Blocking Lynas may impact the rare earths market as Beijing tightens its grip on the supply of the rare material.
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