The licence was renewed with no change to its conditions, meaning the company will be prohibited from importing and processing rare earths after July 1.

“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,” Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze said in a statement today.

The Australian rare earths producer, which has a processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang, will be required to close its cracking and leaching facilities after July 1 in accordance with the licensing conditions.

Lacaze said the conditions were inconsistent with the terms upon which Lynas was invited to invest in Malaysia and the recommendations of four independent scientific reviews, each of which found the company’s 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.

Before the renewal of its licence, several news reports had said Lynas would be barred from producing radioactive waste.

In May 2019, then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said Lynas would be allowed to continue operating its processing plant in Gebeng. He said the government would have to renew the company’s licence as it did not want to lose such a large investment.

The operating licence for Lynas’ processing plant had been due for renewal in September that year, but was under threat following concerns over waste disposal.

Lynas had maintained then that it had always complied with the government’s storage regulations and that its residue storage facilities were operated in a proper manner.

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