PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Lynas could well be faced with another dilemma if the Malaysian government is lax in responding to a request to extend the company’s permission to store NUF at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP).
NUF is one of the two solid residues produced at LAMP. NUF is not a radioactive material, but rather is a non-toxic magnesium rich gypsum. The residue is neither explosive, corrosive or hazardous, and has not been classified as a dangerous good.
Previous Malaysian regulations provided two alternatives to manage NUF; the first was to reuse the material; and the second was to dispose of the material at prescribed premises.
Lynas has been storing the NUF for the past five years, in the hopes of identifying suitable options to reuse the product, with the company’s current permission to store NUF running out at the end of October this year.
Lynas said on Wednesday that when the company received indications that the reuse of NUF was unlikely to be the preference of the new government, the company lodged an application to extend its temporary storage permission, and for LAMP to be licensed as a prescribed premises for the disposal of the NUF, similar to other industrial plants in Malaysia.
The company said that it had lodged the application with the strong expectation that it would be allowed to continue to store the NUF, pending the approval of the site as a prescribed premises for disposal, given the fact that the NUF was not toxic, the company had managed the storage of the NUF consistent with regulatory frameworks, and the regulator had approved a second NUF dry stacking facility at LAMP in July this year.
However, Lynas said that while its current application was before regulators, if the company did not receive an extension for temporary storage by the end of October, the amount of NUF temporarily stored at the LAMP would exceed the prescribed limit under the Environmental Quality Regulation.
This would not, however, be a breach of the company’s operating licence.
Lynas told shareholders that it would continue to press the Malaysian regulators for a response prior to the end of October.
The company is currently facing a review into the LAMP’s operations, including safety, health and environment aspects, as well as residue storage.