The company said the application was filed in the Kuala Lumpur High Court to challenge the conditions prohibiting the import and processing of lanthanide concentrate after Jan 1, 2024.

“The licence conditions which limit operations at the Lynas Malaysia facility represent a significant variation from the conditions under which Lynas decided to invest in Malaysia,” it said in a statement.

“Further, the conditions do not follow the recommendations of the Malaysian government’s 2018 executive review committee report on Lynas Malaysia’s operations, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) own audits of Lynas Malaysia’s operations or any of the other three prior independent expert scientific reviews of Lynas Malaysia’s operations.”

Lynas said the judicial review proceedings aim to review the decisions made by science, technology and innovation minister Chang Lih Kang to dismiss two of its appeals.

On May 9, Chang said he would not change his decision to reject Lynas’ appeal to remove the four licensing conditions set by the AELB. He said the six-month extension granted to Lynas to continue cracking and leaching activities was final.

The ministry convened a closed-door tribunal on April 28 to discuss the appeal to remove the four conditions introduced in March 2020 which had prohibited the import and processing of rare earth elements.

The primary condition is that Lynas must relocate the cracking and leaching of lanthanide concentrate to a site outside Malaysia and only refine intermediate materials at its facility in Gebeng, Pahang, by July 1.

An application to remove the four conditions was turned down by the licensing board, resulting in the April 28 appeal, which is seen as a last-ditch attempt to ensure the company can continue its operations at its Gebeng plant.