Activists demand transparency over Malaysia's move to extend Lynas Rare Earth's operations

abcnews.go.com:

Environmentalists have slammed Malaysia's move to let Australian miner Lynas import and process rare earths until March 2026

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Environmental activists voiced disappointment Wednesday at Malaysia's decision to allow Lynas Rare Earths to continue operations until March 2026, and demanded more transparency on plans by the Australian miner to extract a radioactive element from its growing waste.

The government Tuesday said it allowed Lynas to continue to import and process rare earths at its refinery in central Pahang state, reversing a decision for such activities to halt by Jan. 1. This came after Lynas proposed a method to draw out thorium, the radioactive element, from raw feedstock and from over a million tons of waste accumulated at its refinery.

Activist Wong Tack said the government should have first compelled Lynas to prove that its proposal could work by immediately removing thorium from its existing waste.

“It is extremely irresponsible of the (science) minister to extend Lynas’ license and allow them to generate more waste when the existing waste has not been safely dealt with,” he said.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth Malaysia said it was baffled as the government's U-turn was based merely on a preliminary laboratory study by Lynas. It called for details of the Lynas study to be made public.

It noted that previous research by Lynas to turn the radioactive waste into agriculture fertilizer was rejected by the government.

“A reversal of the government decision based on this preliminary study does not at all sound convincing or assuring from a public health and environmental standpoint,” it said in a statement. While the government is keen to profit from the rare earths industry,