Australian rare-earths miner Lynas Corp said today that it was considering initial ore processing close to its Australian mine, as regulatory hurdles facing its Malaysian processing plant mount.
"We see value in operating alternative cracking and leaching processing close to our resource," Lynas said in a statement.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said last Friday that companies interested in acquiring Lynas had pledged to remove low-level radioactivity before shipping raw materials to the country.
He did not specify which companies were interested in Lynas. The company last month rejected a US$1.1 billion (RM4.49 billion) takeover approach by Australian retail-to-chemicals conglomerate Wesfarmers.
Lynas is the only proven producer of rare earth outside China that are used in industrial magnets.
Mahathir added that even Lynas could operate in the country as long as raw materials coming to Malaysia were cleaned.
Lynas mines rare earth at Mount Weld in Western Australia and then ships the concentrated material to its US$800 million (RM3.27 billion) processing plant in Kuantan, Malaysia.
Malaysia has recently said that the company must remove some of its accumulating radioactive waste as a condition of renewal of its operating licence due in September. Lynas has said it can't meet the conditions.
It also said its Japanese lenders and customers had pledged their support for the company and its management.
- Reuters
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