Nothing to stop us now, says Lynas

Lynas Corporation has informed the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that there remained no injunction or stay preventing it from continuing to carry out its operations at its Malaysian plant, the Australian Associated Press reported.

Lynas said a High Court in Malaysia had denied an application by environmental activists to seek a judicial review of the licensing process for its rare earths processing plant.

It said in a statement to the ASX today, that the High Court in Kuantan had denied an application by persons associated with the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas Group, for leave to seek a judicial review of the Atomic Energy Licensing Boards' decision to issue the Temporary Operating Licence (TOL).

In December, Lynas and the Malaysian government, were successful in defending another challenge by persons associated with the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas group to Lynas' TOL.

At that time the Malaysian Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal with costs in favour of Lynas, against the Kuantan High Court's earlier decision to deny an application for an injunction against the TOL, pending the latest judicial review hearing in 2013.

Lynas owns one of the richest sources of rare earths at its Mount Weld mine in West Australia.

But it has chosen to process the ore in Malaysia, after an earlier plan to build a refinery in China fell through, because of Australian government objections to the likelihood that the latter would impose restrictions on Lynas' products.

Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals that are essential in a wide range of modern technology, from hybrid car batteries to low-energy light bulbs. 

- Bernama