Western Australia says again it won’t accept Lynas waste

Updated 7 years ago · Published on 5 Jun 2019 9:42PM · 3 Comments

THE Western Australia (WA) government will not accept refuse waste from Lynas Corp’s rare earth processing plant in Kuantan, said its Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston, according to a report in Australian Financial Review.

Johnston’s stand comes ahead of a meeting between him and Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Minister Yeo Bee Yin in Perth on June 20.

In her visit, Yeo plans to convince Australia to take back the waste, a byproduct of processed rare earth material mined in Mount Weld in Western Australia.

Australia has been consistent in rejecting calls for the Lynas waste to be sent back to the country.

“They have asked for the meeting, that is up to them.

“Obviously our position is very clear. We won’t take processed residuals from anywhere in the world.

“We are a massive exporter of raw materials and when they are processed overseas, they need to be dealt with overseas,” Johnston was quoted as saying by the Australian Financial Review today.

Putrajaya has been putting pressure on Lynas send to Australia some 450,000 tonnes of waste from the processing of rare earths stockpiled near the Lynas processing plant in Gebeng near Kuantan, Pahang.

The Lynas plant refines ore from a rare earths mine in WA.

According to the report, Lynas plans to build a cracking and leaching plant, either at its Mount Weld mine or on the outskirts of Kalgoorlie in WA’s Goldfields region, to remove radioactivity before rare earths material is sent to Kuantan for downstream processing.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Lynas will be allowed to continue operations at its processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang as it involved a large investment.

Lynas’ licence is due for renewal in September but has been facing opposition over waste disposal issues.

Yeo has been adamant that Lynas must remove and ship back waste stockpiles to Australia as a precondition to licence renewal, which Australia has rejected. – June 5, 2019.

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Comments

  • We dont ask or request. We just direct . If not just close it down .

    Posted 7 years ago by Chen Fui Chin · Reply

  • Look at that Australian guy how arrogantly he says that before meeting the delegation from Malaysia. The talks now preempted so what has Mahathir to say now? Malaysia must have the guts to order rather than accepting orders. It's a slap on the face to proceed on the talks which will be futile and waste of time. Mahathir has to listen to people. PM is for the people to stand firm. Being a doctor, PM should know the consequences of this rare earth because during your tenure as PM 1 the rare earth plant at Bukit Merah was shut down due to radiation and the effects on people in the vicinity. Till today the dump site at Bukit Merah has become a wasteland. PM should stand by the people to the voices of dissent.

    Posted 7 years ago by Swaminaidu Venkatasamy · Reply

  • Shut down Lynas. Let the aussie deal with their own problem

    That is the main problem with all these developed nations. No down stream industries. Just outsource everything and let other deal with their problems. China situation is payback time. Let the developed countries reap what they sow. Want to enjoy high standard of living without the repercussions

    Posted 7 years ago by Kenneth Tan · Reply