KUALA LUMPUR: Australia's Lynas Corporation's rare-earths refinery in Malaysia received a boost on Wednesday after the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board approved its temporary operating license in the country to begin its mining of the minerals. It's stocks also saw a large boost, the company's highest in three years, as a result, reported Bloomberg news agency. It came after months of delays after protests erupted demanding that the company be barred from operating in the country, with demonstrators citing radiation fears. The new temporary license means the company will be able to transport rare-earths minerals as it prepares for the first production in Pahang in October. The company completed building the first phase of the plant in three months to June 30 and is continuing work on the expansion of the project, which is scheduled for completion early next year. It said its “operational preparedness" program was 97 percent complete at the end of the quarter. Ongoing protests and attacks against the establishing of the rare earths facility have seen the Australian company go to court to force critics and villagers to be silenced, but the court in late July ruled that it would not end the debate over the safety of the plant. The High Court rejected Lynas' push to block a coalition of villagers from publishing statements about the project that Lynas insists are defamatory. Earlier, Lynas had won the apology of local newspapers over its coverage of the rare earths facility, a plan designed to mine minerals vital to hi-tech manufacturing. Coalition representative Tan Bun Teet said July's verdict was a “small victory" for activists to maintain their opposition. Independent Malaysia outlet Free Malaysia Today, issued an apology for articles it had written concerning the debate over the Australian plant. In those articles, the publication argued that the Lynas plant would be unsafe. “We apologize for these publications as such claims do not have a scientific basis. The regulatory review of the Lynas plant has been thorough and diligent," the media outlet said. The apology is an attempt to head off any defamation charges against them after Lynas went after the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas activist group and a number of local media as they pushed forward on establishing the rare-earths plant in the country. Local reports did not say what exactly the court ruling was, or if there would be any forced compensation in the cases. Lynas's plans to process ore from its West Australian mine at the $200 million advanced materials plant in Malaysia are strongly opposed by community groups over fears of a repeat of the health problems associated with a Mitsubishi refinery at Bukit Merah that was closed in 1992. On June 24, over 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets with funeral banners and signs demanding the government revoke a decision earlier in July to allow Australia's Lynas' rare-earths mine to go forward. The Occupy Balok-Gebeng event started with the group's chairman Wong Tack delivering a fiery speech before a crowd of hundreds. “Today is the beginning. Today, we galvanize our forces from all across the nation. We occupy Balok and then the whole nation," he said at the launch of the protest in late July in Kuantan. Activists from the Ban Cyanide-Gold Mining in Bukit Koman movement and the Perak Anti-Radioactive Action Committee had joined the 24-hour rally. The crowd placed hundreds of wreaths, funeral banners and dozens of mock coffins in front of a giant banner depicting the Lynas rare earth refinery. Wong challenged the authorities to issue the full operating license immediately if it was so sure the project was safe. This was the fourth anti-Lynas rally organized by Himpunan Hijau in less than a year. The rally will culminate with the group gathering in front of the Lynas plant in Gebeng Sunday. Pahang police chief DCP Datuk Sharifuddin Ab Ghani said the rally was held in a private area and the protesters did not disturb anyone. However, he said the protesters were not allowed to gather in Gebeng Sunday, pointing out: “They know the law and we have tried to advise them." In June, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed issued a statement that effectively shuts out further dissent from the miner's detractors, who have continued to highlight fears of radioactive pollution from the RM2.5 billion plant. The minister acknowledged that public fear has not been allayed but reasoned that the government had already subjected the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) to an “unprecedented series of evaluations" by experts. “I [would] also like to point out that it is the government's position that in cases where all conditions imposed by regulatory agencies have been complied with, an applicant should be allowed to carry on with the implementation of its project," he said, referring to Lynas' application for a manufacturing license to kick off operations at its refinery in Gebeng, Kuantan. Opponents of the plant said they would continue to pressure the government to remove the plant from the country's land. The committee recommended granting Lynas an operating license to begin processing rare earths imported from Australia at the plant in eastern Malaysia. The facility was awarded a license in February but the government froze that following protests by thousands of people, saying the panel would review the decision. “The committee found that up to now all the safety, health and environmental aspects in connection with the project ... have been met," the panel said in a 74-page report. The panel was widely expected to rule in favor of the plant. The opposition has largely condemned the ruling and refused to join the panel, which they say will be detrimental to the country as a whole. Rare earths are mineral elements used in the manufacture of high-tech gadgets ranging from iPods to missiles, and China's control of about 95 percent of world supply has raised concerns. Environmental concerns have been the main protest from environmentalists, residents and politicians in the country. They argue that the radioactive waste that will be produced will create an unsustainable environment in the area. “It needs to be closed because this is going to cause problems to our childrens' health and it is not Malaysian," one resident in Kuantan told Bikyamasr.com in July. But the panel said radiation levels were “low and safe" but would need to be monitored, along with air and water quality and public health. A Malaysian court in April dismissed a legal application by Pahang residents to halt work at the plant, which was originally schedule to start operations late last year. Lynas has insisted the facility is safe and any waste will be stored and disposed of securely.
