Malaysia gives nod for Australian miner Lynas to import, process rare earths until March 2026

abcnews.go.com:

Malaysia’s government says it will allow Lynas Rare Earths to continue to import and process rare earths until March 2026

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia's government said Tuesday it will allow Lynas Rare Earth to continue to import and process rare earths until March 2026, after the Australian miner proposed a new technology to extract radioactive elements from the waste it produces.

The Lynas refinery in Malaysia, its first outside China producing minerals that are crucial to high-tech manufacturing, has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012. But the company has been embroiled in a dispute over radiation from waste accumulating at the plant.

The government had ordered Lynas to move its leaching and cracking processes — which produce the radioactive waste from Australian ore — out of the country by the year's end. It also was not allowed to import raw materials with radioactive elements into the country.

Science Minister Chang Lih Kang said the two conditions for renewing Lynas' license had been removed after the company proposed a way to extract thorium, the radioactive element, from the raw rare earths it imports and from the more than 1 million tons of waste sitting at its factory.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board has studied the Lynas proposal and found it feasible, he said.

Chang said the government's about-turn was not a softening of its stance. He said he considered it a win-win situation as it “fulfills our decision not to allow the continuous accumulation of radioactive waste” at the Lynas plant.

If successful, Chang said the waste can be disposed off quickly and the thorium can be commercialized and sold to nuclear plants overseas or to other industries. Lynas must commit 1% of its gross