quick summary, page-2

Lynas has snowballed into a political issue with opportunistic opposition MPs trying to use it to score points in their bid to win power.

As a result of extensive disinformation and fear-mongering over many months, protest groups have taken repeated action to deny the company the right to process rare earths in Malaysia.

Lynas has been examined and audited by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Minister of Science Technology & Innovation and a special Parliamentary Select Committee.

Furthermore, a rare earths symposium was arranged by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia to discuss Lynas. Four international experts sitting as a panel unanimously endorsed the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant and confirmed its safety.

All the above investigations into Lynas have found it exemplary in terms of its compliance with domestic and international regulations. There is no scientific or technical basis for the plant to be refused the right to operate.

However, while the science behind the plant is sound, trying to convince the locals who refuse to accept the hard evidence is another matter altogether. This has resulted in the languishing share price.

In my own opinion, it is starting to get to the point where the only way to convince people of its safety is to let Lynas operate on a trial run (hence the temporary operating license). I personally expect the license to be issued by the end of this week in line with a recently released newspaper article.

Key Milestones so far include:

A. MOSTI dismissing an appeal against Lynas
B. PSC recommending Lynas be issued a license
C. Prime Minister Najib giving his personal endorsement of Lynas
D. AELB currently considering Lynas conditions, expected to be resolved in their favour.

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