Australia is 58 times bigger than Peninsular Malaysia. With a population of 21 million and a government that answers to the people, Australia dare not take a bet that a Rare Earth Plant is worth its risk and investment. AUSTRALIA APPROVED THE LYNAS PLANT IN 1992, UNDER A PREVIOUS MANAGEMENT TEAM ? BUT THIS PLAN WAS NOT ECONOMICALLY VIABLE AT THAT TIME.
The USA has closed most of its mines, THE USA ONLY HAD ONE RARE EARTHS MINE, WHICH WAS PUT UNDER CARE AND MAINTENANCE WHEN PRICES DROPPED DUE TO CHINESE COMPETITION. NOW PRICES ARE UP AGAIN THIS OPERATION HAS RECOMMENCED AND ARE THEY CONSTRUCTING A NEW PLANT TO EXPAND TO TWICE THE SIZE OF THE LYNAS OPERATION and so has China. In Mongolia, vast tracts of lands thousands of square kilometres are rendered hazardous, with toxic runoffs destroying everything in their path, with high radioactivity, tainting precious water supplies and this chain reaction will continue for thousands of years. And all this is just from one small factory which has also been closed down. It is surrounded by partly frozen red-colored 'tailing lakes' up to a square mile in size and the land is scarred with toxic runoffs from the refining process and pock-marked with craters and trenches. Larger Rare-Earth refineries sit around the banks of the world?s largest tailing lake, Baogang - seven square miles of evil-smelling toxic waste that shows the shocking extent of this industry's impact. THIS REGION PRODUCES ALMOST HALF THE WORLDS RARE EARTHS ? IT IS CERTAINLY NOT A ?SMALL FACTORY?. THE ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE IN CHINA IS REAL, AND THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT IS SERIOUS ABOUT THE CLEAN UP OF THERE INDUSTRY. THEY ARE DRIVING CONSOLIDATION OF THE INDUSTRY TO ENABLE THE LARGER COMPANIES TO AFFORD AND OPERATE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS, GAS TREATMENT PLANTS AND SOLID MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS. THIS IS PUSHING THEIR COSTS UP, WHICH IS ONE UNDERLYING REASON THE RARE EARTH PRICES ARE INCREASING. LYNAS ALREADY HAS ALL OF THE APPROPRIATE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT IN PLACE OR BEING CONSTRUCTED WHICH SHALL MEET GLOBAL STANDARDS ? SOMETHING WHICH THE CHINESE INDUSTRY CANNOT DO TODAY.
It is a scene that Chinese officials do not want the world to see. Several villages close to the lake have already been relocated because of pollution and security guards hired by the mining company.
And to think that Malaysia is building the world?s largest Rare Earth Plant is truly madness of the highest order. AS DISCUSSED ABOVE THE CHINESE INDUSTRIAL PERFORMANCE IS NOT COMPARIBLE TO THAT WHICH LYNAS HAS DESGINED, IS BEING BUILT AND WILL OPERATE AT. I BELIEVE EVEN THE GREEN PARTY NOW ACCEPTS THAT LYNAS WILL OPERATE AT GLOBALLY ACCEPTABLE STANDARDS.
Even massive Australia balks AS DISCUSSED ABOVE AUSTRALIA HAS NOT BALKED.
Australia with its massive land size, could site it many thousands of miles in the centre of Australia, far away from populated areas and still be shielded should an accident happens but it will not even dream of building one in the country itself. AS DISCUSSED ABOVE AUSTRALIA PREVIOUSLY GAVE APPROVALS FOR THIS PLANT ? ON THE COAST NEAR A POPULATION THAT COULD PROVIDE A WORKFORCE. But Peninsular Malaysia would be dead meat if the inevitable happens. And to think that it could never happen is foolhardy. The Chernoybl meltdown was not supposed to happen and neither was the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in Japan. THE SOLID IRON PHOSPHO GYPSUM WHICH CONTAINS 1600PPM THORIUM FROM A MINERAL PROCESSING PLANT IS INCOMPARIBLE T A NUCLEAR REACTOR ? MALAYSIA ALEADY HAS MANY INDUSTRIES WHICH PROCESS MINERAL PRODUCTS AND PRODUCE SIMILAR SOLID BY PRODUCTS, MALAYSIA ALSO HAS A OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY WHICH PRODUCES SOLIDS WITH SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER LEVELS OF RADIONUCLEI THAN THE LAMP. YOUR STATEMENT IS FEAR MONGERING.
In the event of an accident the fallout could reach within an area of 80km radius, wiping out Kuantan, Pekan, Kemaman and most of the areas around Pahang and Terengganu. Long term the two states will be rendered useless and unliveable. It simply is illogical to site a Rare Earth Refinery so near to a large population and in such a small country. THIS STATEMENT IMPLIES LYNAS IS BUILDING A NUCLEAR REACTOR ? PLEASE BASE YOU STATEMENTS ON FACT ? LYNAS IS BUILDING A MINERAL PROCESSING OPERATION WHICH PRODUCES SOLID BY-PRODUCTS AS DISCUSSED ABOVE.
Should there be an accident, the Peninsular will never be able to recover, and may even be sued by Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. And now that Australia with such a huge storage capacity would not allow the waste tailings to be reimported, shows Australia?s determination to wash its hands off the matter. SIMILAR FEARMOGERING
With Australia ?s announcement that they will not accept our waste, what are we going to do with it? Hide it in Taman Negara, on Gunung Tahan, or drop in the sea? Or try to sell it to another unsuspecting third world country? All the profits we make will not be enough to pay for the disposal of the highly toxic waste. THE WASTE IS NOT HIGHLY TOXIC, LYNAS HAS APPROVAL FOR ON SITE STORAGE. SIMILAR MATERIAL IS USED AS ROAD SUB-BASE IN THE USA, EUROPE, AND AFRICA.
Malaysia in its stride to become a global economic powerhouse, should seriously weigh the pros and cons of the project. And anyhow we put it, the cons do outweigh the pros. It would be downright silly to even think that we can outwit nature. A MULTI YEAR PROCESS OF UNDERSTANDING THE PROJECT, ANALYSISING THE BENEFITS TO THE ECONOMY, COMPLETING THE ENVIRONEMNTAL IMPACT STATEMENT, COMPLETING THE RIADIATION IMPACT ASSESSMENT, COMPLETING THE QUANTITATIVE RISK ASSESSMENT, AND MULTIPLE CONSULTATIONS WITH MANY DEPARTMENTS WAS UNDERTAKEN BY YOUR GOVERNMENT. THE RESULTS WERE THEN PUBLICLY REPORTED IN 2009 WITH MULITPLE BRIEFINGS BOTH IN KL AND KAUNTAN TO MEDIA, POLITICAL PARTIES, COMMUNICTY GROUPS AND OPEN BRIEFINGS.
Childish reaction
The Pahang MB?s threat to pull the plug on Gebeng with the loss of 20 thousand jobs, should the Rare Earth Plant be called off, is really a childish reaction and a very weak attempt to resolve the problem. And to allow 20,000 people to lose their jobs just because the people rejected this insane project, when the Rare Earth Plant should not be there in the first place, is unbelievable. THE STATEMENT, I BELIEVE, WAS TO HIGHLIGHT THE LYNAS PLANT IS SIMILAR TO EXISITING INDUSTRIES WITHIN THE REGION, FOR ALL THE REASONS STATED ABOVE AND ESLEWHERE ON THIS FACEBOOK PAGE.
It is also preposterous that Officials from the EIA saw it fit to announce that a comprehensive EIA study was unnecessary, EIA was set up for the sole purpose of protecting the environment of the nation, and it is downright insulting of EIA to ignore the people and to side the Federal Government. THE GOVERNMENT HAS CLEAR STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS FOR PROJECTS LOCATING WITHIN GENENG INDUSTRIAL AREA. AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT WAS COMPLETED AND IS, I UNDERSTAND, AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION
If the BN government does not take steps to settle this issue immediately, it will only cause the people to lose faith in the government. Already the Bukit Merah incident is a black mark, and our government should take steps that such an incident should never be allowed to happen again. BUKIT MERAH CAN NOT BE COMPARED TO THE LAMP. THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENCES; THE MAIN ONE BEING THE STARTING MATERIAL IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, WITH MOUNT WELD CONCENTRATE 50 TIMES LOWER THORIUM CONTENT THAN THE TIN AMANG USED BY ASAIN RARE EARTHS, A PROCESS WHICH IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND DOES NOT CONCENTRATE THE THORIUM RESULTING IN A IRON PHOSPO GYPSUM PRODUCT THAT HAS 300 TIMES LOWER THORIUM THAN THE BUKIT MERAH WASTE. THE AELB WAS NOT FORMED WHEN BUKIT MERAH WAS APPROVED, STANDARDS WERE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. THE TWO PROJECTS ARE INCOMPARIABLE.
How can our government be fooled by this Orang Putih Foreigners who continues to insult our intelligence? When will we ever learn not to play with fire? In our relentless pursuit for the extra dollar, we continue to mess around with nature without thinking of its disastrous consequences.
Rare Earth belongs in the ground and It should never be dug up and refined in the first place. Just like nuclear fusion, it will cause a chain reaction that may one day cause the end of the world. Chernobyl and the Fukushima Reactor in Japan is a testament to that. YOU CLEARLY DO NOT KNOW MUCH ABOUT RARE EARTHS ? RARE EARTHS ARE NOT RADIOACTIVE, SUGGEST YOU GOOGLE IT
180 countries in the world cannot be wrong to reject such a dangerous project. PLEASE NAME THE 180 COUNTRIES WHO REJECT RARE EARTHS? MANY COUNTRIES ARE LOOKING FOR AND IMPORT RARE EARTHS. There is simply no mitigation possible should an accident happen. Gebeng is also situated very near to the South China Sea and a Giant Tsunami generated from a simple earthquake cannot be discounted from its list of failsafe emergency procedures. I THINK YOU WILL FIND THE EAST COAST OF PENINSULAR MALAYSIA IS WELL PROTECTED BY EAST MALAYSIA AND THE PHILLIPINES FROM THE RING OF FIRE.
One day we may be the laughing stock of the world by our decision to lose a country for the sake of a Rare Earth project. OR THE EVNY OF THE WORLD WITH A SECURE SOURCE OF RARE EARTHS AND DOWNSTREAM INDUSTRY LOCATING TO MALAYSIA TO ACESS IT
The risk is just too high. And it is simply not an option. I BELIEVE THIS VIEW IS INCORRECT FOR THE MANY REASONS GIVEN ABOVE.
LYC Price at posting:
$2.07 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)