Photo: Mounting waste dumping area on a flood prone peat swamp in a seasonal wet monsoon region at Lynas Malaysian plant premises.

Australia’s Lynas Rare Earth Ltd. Supply Chains via Malaysia

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Lynas is the first rare earth corporation that has secured multi millions public funds. Firstly, a generous soft loan from Japan to complete the construction of the controversial secondary beneficiation plant in Kuantan, Malaysia, created the first supplier of rare earth outside of China. In total, Japan provided close to half a billion in loans and equity for Lynas to date. As trade tensions between US and China deepened, the US government has invested over US$350 millions in Lynas primarily to ensure that its weapon industry has a secured non-Chinese supplier.

The Australian Government has provided a total of A$34.8 million to Lynas. China remains a major producer especially of heavy rare earth much needed for the manufacturing of powerful modern weapons of mass destruction.

Lynas first promoted itself as a transition minerals producer before taking advantage of the politically backed lucrative weapon supply chains while enjoying geopolitical favour to secure both public financing and purchasing contracts from USA and Japan while continuing to pollute in Malaysia where environmental and public health protection requirements are seldom enforced. Although LYnas’ Kalgoorlie plant is up and running, water and power supply problems have hampered its productivity. Lynas has largely depended on the Malaysian plant to produce a range of separated rare earth oxides and carbonates, which are sold to Japan and China for their final products ready for industrial applications.

Currently, Lynas is seeking a further 10 years operating licence extension in Malaysia and to increase its thorium bearing lanthanide concentrate from 64 kilotonnes to 110 kilotonnes which will leave Malaysia with even more radioactive-hazardous waste and unchecked pollution and health problems. Despite these, Lynas has boasted in its sustainability report to be an ethical and environmentally sound company. Civil society groups in Malaysia are currently preparing rebuttals to Lynas’ proposal critiquing its EIA report. The unstable, flood prone coastal peatland is unsuitable for the plant or its waste storage facilities endangering fragile coastal and marine ecosystems, underground water – which many families are using for their daily uses, and damaging the reputation of the region as a dive and eco-tourism hotspot. Malaysians insist on Lynas fulfilling its original licence condition to remove the radioactive waste from the country as it has limited capabilities to manage it safely.

___

References