The Malaysian government has announced a three-year extension of the operating license for Lynas, an Australian rare earth company, in Malaysia until March 2026. Malaysia was also prepared to ban the export of all raw rare earth materials and stipulate that only processed rare earths can be exported. According to a survey by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2019, Malaysia's total rare earth reserves are approximately 30,000 mt, accounting for a small proportion of global reserves. Therefore, Malaysia's ban on the export of raw rare earth materials has a relatively limited impact on the global rare earth market. China has the largest rare earth reserves globally, estimated at 44 million mt. Lynas is the largest rare earth producer outside of China.
Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Chang Lih Kang, stated during a press conference on Tuesday, October 24th, that while the operating license for Lynas' rare earth plant in Gebeng, Pahang, has been renewed, Lynas is still required to remove the process of decomposing and washing radioactive waste from Malaysia, as per the government's previous regulations. Chang Lih Kang also mentioned that the government has approved Lynas to continue importing radioactive raw materials into Malaysia and conducting the cracking and leaching (C&L) process in Malaysia until the expiration of the license in March 2026.
