Azizan Abu Samah, chairman of the Akademi Sains Malaysia’s task force on sustainable mining, said rare earth mining could be done with minimal impact on the environment and while preserving safety.
He said the mining method most likely to be used in Malaysia would emulate the methods of some Chinese companies, who mine similar ion absorption rare earth elements.
He said that fear of radioactivity and toxic by-products was often overblown. “I think people politicise it and make it a big issue, but the level of radioactivity is less than what you get from tin mining,” he said.
“After all, Sunway Lagoon is an old mining pool. The Horas system to pump water in Bestari Jaya for Sungai Selangor is a series of old tin mining pools. It is when you want to spin it into a political issue that the science gets thrown out.”
Azizan said rare earth mining should only be done in selected areas.
“If the mining is undertaken in the watershed of the Pedu and Muda dams, you will get sediment build-up that will cut the storage capacity and longevity of the dams.”
He said the Ulu Muda area provides 70% of the raw water needs of Perlis, and 96% of Kedah’s, while 80% of Penang’s raw water needs are met by the Sungai Muda, which is directly connected to the catchment area.
“Any disruption could be hugely damaging to the water supply of these areas,” he said.
He said only established companies should be awarded licences to mine rare earths, with greater regulation to ensure minimum environmental damage and human impact.
“When we have cowboy-ish mining like what we’ve seen with gold in Selinsing, that’s when we’ll see a lot of problems. It can’t be a free-for-all.”
Rare earth mining hit the headlines recently after Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced an agreement with a Kuala Lumpur-based company to exploit rare earth deposits in the state. He said the deposits had a RM62 billion potential.
However, energy and natural resources minister Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said rare earth mining would not be permitted in forest reserves or without technical approvals.
Rare earth elements have many industrial uses, from being added to magnets used in energy turbines to electronic displays for smartphones and TVs.
“At the moment China has about 90% of the market, but if Malaysia is able to mine our own, we could one day command up to 50% of the global market,” Azizan said. However, “China would not like us to break their monopoly”.