Msia’s REE processing head start safeguards mineral sovereignty, says Chang

The Star

Malaysia’s lead in rare earth elements processing technology will help safeguard its mineral sovereignty even amid trade deals with global powers, says Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang.  Speaking to the media after attending the XThree Exploration Thorium and Rare Earth Seminar on Monday (Nov 3), Chang said Malaysia must protect its RM809bil in rare earth deposits and strengthen technological independence, noting that China currently dominates the global REE processing sector.  Meanwhile, Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze said the company would collaborate with Malaysian academia on REE research and share its findings as part of its operating licence.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/5dnshuzz  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:003, 2, 1

00:07Access Granted

00:09This seminar is of course an initiative of MAS

00:15and I think everyone knows this industry and ecosystem is very important

00:23especially at the current geopolitical situation

00:27that is why we are convening this program to let all the stakeholders

00:34to connect and talk about this ecosystem and technology behind this

00:40and of course we have the advantage of talent and also great deposit of iron absorption clay in Malaysia

00:48and as the government has already mentioned that we are having a moratorium of raw material export

00:56so we have already banned raw material export

00:58therefore we need to develop midstream and downstream besides raw material

01:09so I think this is a good start

01:13but especially we cannot have one country controlling all the resources in this world

01:23that will create vulnerabilities in the global supply chain

01:28so this is what we are starting to do in Malaysia

01:34what is that one country that is controlling the resources?

01:37well everybody knows that of course China control about 70% of the processing capacity

01:43as I mentioned in my speech

01:45so since we have the deposit and since we have partners in Malaysia

01:51that could help us develop of course including China and from other countries

01:57so we think it's a strategy for us to develop our processing capacity as well

02:07you spoke about technological sovereignty

02:10what is technological sovereignty when it comes to RE in Malaysia?

02:14well when we talk about technological sovereignty of course it's like we need to develop our own technology capacity

02:24so that we do not rely on certain countries

02:29I think that is a quite clear definition of technological sovereignty

02:35so in Malaysia when we say we explore collaboration with foreign partners

02:42we are also looking at developing our technology capacity

02:46that's why it's important for our collaboration to have tech transfer

02:53and also talent development

02:55what was in our operating licence was that we would undertake research

02:59to understand whether this was feasible

03:02and as the Minister has just said

03:06one of the important things and that's what today is all about

03:09is that this is work which has been undertaken

03:13Linus has done some work

03:16Linus has done some work with ANSTRO in Australia

03:19and Malaysian academia has done work as well

03:22so all of these have been parallel trained

03:26so that discovery and development can be shared across each of those areas

03:33the good news is they all found out much the same thing

03:36it would have been a bit of a problem if they hadn't wouldn't it?

03:39and so today's seminar is about sharing some of the outcomes of that research

03:48and what may or may not be possible next steps

03:52so generally speaking everything is in progress and is progressing well

03:58especially on the thorium extraction research

04:04yeah research

04:05so today is the seminar to talk about it

04:08and I mean as government we are happy with the progress

04:13Mr. under the MOU that was signed with the US last week

04:17there are no restrictions to be imposed on RE to the US

04:21does that affect Linus in any way

04:24because Linus is not an American company

04:27how does this affect the RE industry relation?

04:32well I don't see any problem in that

04:34because we are advocating openness and transparency

04:40so with that clause in the agreement

04:44well I don't see any restriction on Linus or any other companies

04:49because that clause is actually to promote openness

04:54we do not put restriction on any companies or country

04:58does this affect our sovereignty for them to say they want more

05:02and we cannot say no?

05:04well of course it depends on the capacity of our production

05:09I mean even they say they want more but if we can't produce more

05:13then we can't help so that is not the purpose of the clause

05:21the purpose of the clause is to promote openness

05:24so that no restriction on specific country or any other companies

05:28the PM said there's an exit clause

05:30what is the exit clause in this?

05:32I think you should ask Mithi on that

05:34maybe on the processing and separation facilities and technology management

05:38right now it's just like this

05:40we're doing a very good job here

05:42but are we looking at any other options or partners for the technology?

05:46we know that China still has technology there

05:49well of course we as I say we promote openness

05:53and we have no preference on any countries

05:57of course Linus is already here

05:59thank you very much for that

06:01but at the same time we also maintain open to all any country or company

06:11who are willing to share the technology

06:13right now there isn't any firm

06:15there are discussions

06:16there are discussions

06:17what about the Korean

06:19maybe I could just to give you some idea

06:22there are very few companies in the world

06:26that actually know how to process rare earths in a sustainable fashion

06:31and in fact there are very few who know how to process it in any fashion

06:37so there are many who would like to be involved

06:41and many of the inter-government agreements that have been signed recently

06:45have been about encouraging that

06:48Malaysia has a head start

06:50like a big head start

06:52like a long way a head start

06:55because Malaysians have developed skills and competencies and intellectual property

07:03over the past decade

07:05that are not held anywhere else

07:07and so the opportunity is to build on that

07:10and to keep being out the front

07:13and yes others might come in

07:16but they've got to change

07:17they've got to run

07:18to catch up

07:19one street said

07:21there was a Korean downstream

07:24can you elaborate on that

07:27that was announced by a PM the other day in Korea

07:30can you elaborate on that?

07:31can you elaborate on that?

07:32you want to?

07:33in a bit

07:35so our vision has always been aligned with the government's vision

07:40that Malaysia will not just be a centre of excellence for rare earth processes

07:45but actually be able to develop its own resource

07:50particularly as Minister mentioned

07:53the ionic clay deposits

07:55but potentially others as well

07:57and also have downstream processing into the magnets which are used

08:03in the new energies and renewable energy

08:08but also in electronics and in automotive

08:12these are all industries that are here in Malaysia

08:15and being able to be fully integrated will be really beneficial

08:21so over the years we've spoken to many potential magnet makers

08:26and said oh why don't you come and invest in a magnet plant in Malaysia

08:30and for a variety of reasons it just hasn't happened

08:33but what we have done is that we've engaged with a Korean company JS Link

08:39who are going to invest in a magnet factory in Gabeng

08:45in Kwantan just down the road from us

08:48and we will be co-investors in that facility

08:51so let's hear a bit of knowledge

08:52you

08:54know

08:56you

08:58we're doing

08:59you

09:00you

09:01you

09:02you

09:03you

09:05you

09:07you

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