Explain rare earth mine, demands Perak DAP

April 28, 2011

Ngeh questioned the benefits of having such a mine in Perak. file picKUALA LUMPUR, April 28 Perak DAP has called on the state government to justify its intention to restart its rare earth industry when radioactive waste from the last project was still being cleaned up nearly 20 years after it was shuttered.State DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadirs administration must explain the economic benefits of opening a rare earth mine after agreeing with a Hong Kong company to explore and mine rare earth in Bukit Merah, Ipoh.Perak already has enough low-end jobs. Will a mine create any highly-skilled employment or will this just be a foreign company taking the rare earth and leaving? Then it will just be the latest in a series of disasters under Zambry, he told The Malaysian Insider last night.The former senior state executive councillor, who was part of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government that was ousted in 2009, added that the health and safety of the public and environment must not be sacrificed no matter what the economic rewards.In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dated April 18, CVM Minerals Limited announced it had entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) to carry out the project.The Hong Kong company, through its local subsidiary CVM Metal Recycle Sdn Bhd, has applied to the states land and mineral office for a licence to explore the area, covering 250 hectares, for rare earths, even as controversy rages over Australian miner Lynas Corps rare earth refinery in Kuantan.Bukit Merah was also the site of Malaysias last rare earths plant that closed down in 1992 but is still undergoing a massive RM300 million clean-up.Environmentalists have also raised questions over radioactive waste being produced and stored at Lynass plant in the Gebeng industrial zone, fearing a repeat of the Japanese-o! wned Mit subishi Chemicals Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant, which has been linked to eight cases of leukaemia, seven resulting in death.The federal government bowed to public pressure last week and put the RM700 million project on ice pending a month-long review by a panel of international experts.Ngeh also said CVM must not be afforded the same 12-year tax holiday given to Lynas.The Beruas MP said the Lynas plant would require highly skilled labour as it was a processing plant while CVM would merely be mining rare earth deposits.I cant see how it will be very different from tin mining, he said, referring to the states main mining product.CVMs shares traded at HK$0.33 on the HK stock exchange, as of 4pm today.The company also said that the deal with Peraks investment arm has yet to be sealed.As of the date of this announcement, no legally binding agreement has been entered into between the company and PKNP in relation to the formation of the joint venture, CVM said in its filing.It was also announced that the state investment arm was interested in taking up 135.3 million of CVMs shares, which is about 4.73 per cent of the companys total shares issued.CVM said it would be the major shareholder of the rare earths project in Perak, if the two parties do finally agree to ink the deal.Bukit Merah is part of the area known as Belanja, which covers about 11,137 hectares in the Batu Gajah district and has a multiracial population totalling 26,211 people.