THE government plans to develop a National Mineral Policy within three months in accordance with the current standard operating procedure for rare earth mining.

Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said the policy is aimed at responsibly managing the nation’s minerals, balancing the needs of the economic sector and national revenue while ensuring environmental sustainability.

“The potential contribution of minerals to national revenue is quite big, with our current mineral reserves being valued at around RM4 trillion.

“Therefore, efforts taken to develop mineral resources should be orderly and organised so that the economic needs do not affect the people’s social welfare as well as the environment,” Fadillah, who is also plantation and commodities minister, told reporters after chairing the second National Mineral Council meeting in Putrajaya today.

Kedah currently has the largest rare earth mineral resources among the states.

On other matters discussed at the meeting, he said they included a holistic mineral industry development through the establishment of an entire mineral value chain covering the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. 

“Issues related to illegal mining by irresponsible parties were also raised at the meeting. Putrajaya has urged all state governments to pay serious attention to this by strengthening the control and monitoring of particularly sensitive areas such as permanent forest reserves and environmentally sensitive areas,” he said.

Fadillah said the federal government is in the process of forming a task force to resolve the illegal mining problem.

“The formation of the task force will involve parties from various technical departments and enforcement agencies at the federal and state levels,” he added. – Bernama, May 8, 2023.