LYNAS Corporation (ASX: LYC) is facing a new wave of judicial proceedings in Malaysia over its subsidiary, Lynas Malaysia’s rare earths processing facility.
In a statement released to the ASX after the market had closed on Friday, the company said that three long-term opponents of the plant launched the judicial review proceedings in the Malaysian High Court, and would contest the August 2019 decision to renew Lynas’ full operating licence at the processing plant near Kuantan, Pahang, on the country’s east coast.
The company said that the grounds set out in the documents “relate to the processes followed by the Government of Malaysia”.
The respondents included the Prime Minister of Malaysia, 27 ministers and cabinet members, the Government of Malaysia, the Atomic Energy Licensing Board and Lynas Malaysia.
Lynas said it had “full confidence in the robustness of the Malaysian judicial system”.
“While every case will be decided on its merits, these individuals (and persons believed to be associated with them) have lodged several previous court challenges, all of which have been dismissed.”
The company also pointed out that it had been subject to four independent scientific reviews, including two by the International Atomic Energy Agency and a report by the current government’s independent scientific committee.
“All of the reviews have found that Lynas Malaysia is low risk and compliant with the laws and regulations in effect in Malaysia,” it said.
“The 2015 IAEA Report stated that fears demonstrated by those who opposed the continuation of the operations did not find any support on scientific evidence.”
Lynas has been in hot water as green groups and activists continue vigorous opposition to the plant because of the low-level radioactive waste it emits.
The company has greenlit the construction of a new $500m cracking and leeching hub in Kalgoorlie, WA, that it says is the first step toward developing a critical minerals hub in the Goldfields region.
The project is expected to reach completion in early 2023, and the company was awarded lead agency status by the WA government on December 19, 2019.
The plant is expected to create about 500 jobs during the peak of construction and increase Lynas’ workforce in the Goldfields to about 200 people.
Lynas is the only producer of rare earths outside of China.
Rare earths are used in everything from computers to cruise missiles and have become a contentious issue in the China-US trade wars.
