KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia said on Friday it will review a plan by Australian miner Lynas to build a rare earths processor in the country for radioactive pollution risks, a move that may delay output of the metals outside top producer China. State news agency Bernama reported Trade Minister Mustapa Mohamed as saying an independent panel will be set up to review the health and safety aspects of the Lynas rare earths plant in the central Malaysian state of Pahang. The move comes after growing public pressure to scrap the plant with environment activists saying the plant could make Malaysia a dumping ground for radioactive by-products from the refining process, creating health risks. Lynas could not be immediately reached for comment as it was a public holiday in Australia. A senior Lynas official told Reuters last month that the firm expected to get the pre-operation licence by September and that it adhered to all government regulations. Malaysia's Department of Environment (DOE) approved the Lynas project in 2008. Lynas' Malaysia plant was supposed to process rare earth concentrate shipped in from the firm's Mount Weld site in Western Australia. The site is scheduled to produce its first feed of ore in late March. The strategy would make Lynas a key global supplier after top rare earths producer China last year imposed export quotas to retain resources. Company officials said annual output from the Malaysian plant would hit 22,000 tonnes, meeting roughly a third of total global demand outside China by 2013. Rare earths are crucial to production of high-tech goods from fibreoptic cables to smartphones and electric cars. Big buyers such as Japan, the United States and Europe rely on these metals and have been looking to cut their reliance on China that accounts for around 95 percent of global output.
