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SAM cautions against promoting rare earth industry

  • Publication Date | December 3, 2020
  • Document Type | Media Statement
  • Programmes | Pollution & Extractives
  • Issues | Mining & Extractives, Pollution, Toxics, Waste
  • Tags | Baling, Chinalco GXNF, in-situ leaching, Kedah, Rare-Earth Minerals, Sik, Ulu Muda
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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is gravely concerned over the announcement by Kedah Menteri Besar, Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, yesterday that the state has entered an agreement with a Kuala Lumpur-based joint venture company to explore rare earth elements (REE). According to media reports, the MB has claimed that the REE was not radioactive and was found in Sik, Ulu Muda and Baling in Kedah. 

Similar claims were made last year by the former Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources (KATS) over a deal between a China company and the Perak state government for the exploration of rare earth minerals. The Perak venture involved the state government and a Chinese company, Chinalco GXNF Rare Earth Development to undertake the exploration of rare-earth minerals.

The Ministry in response to SAM then had claimed that the Chinese expertise in identifying the potential of rare-earth sources in Perak, especially that in ion-adsorption clay, did not contain thorium or uranium as by-product wastes. 

SAM believes that the Kedah venture could be similar to that being undertaken in Perak and we call on the MB to confirm this and as to whether the venture involves the same Chinese company.  

Our concerns are not allayed by the Kedah MB or the federal government that the venture does not involve radioactive elements. 

SAM’s preliminary research on China’s experience shows that there are very serious environmental damage and human-health costs related to the mining and leaching of ion- adsorption rare-earth clay resources.

A 2013 study[1] by six Chinese university academics on the consequences in Southern China of the ion-absorption rare-earth industry reveals devastating environmental effects in the region. The study, ‘China’s ion-adsorption rare-earth resources, mining consequences and preservation’ has many alarming findings. 

It said that the Chinese central government in June 2011, enforced a ban on surface mining and tank/heap leaching while implementing in-situ leaching for ion-adsorption rare earths. 

According to the study, “surface/mountaintop mining for ion-adsorption rare earth ores has become the dominant driver of land-use change and degradation in southern China, causing permanent loss of ecosystem, severe soil erosion, air pollution, biodiversity loss and human health problem”.   The study estimates that the costs of this mining are more than the benefits, even before taking into account the human health and environmental costs.

The study further states that while the in-situ leaching technology is advantageous in terms of surface vegetation clearing and soil excavation, however, “the enforcement of in-situ leaching to tackle environmental problems associated with rare earth mining and extraction remains highly contentious.” 

According to the study, “The practice of in-situ leaching has also revealed serious environmental problems including underground water contamination, mine collapses and landslides…More than 100 landslides reported in the Ganzhou region were attributed to in-situ mining and leaching practices, at significant human costs and losses…The reclamation of finished in-situ leaching mines …could be more costly than that of surface mining/heap leaching mines.”  

These findings on both categories of activity (surface/mountaintop mining, and in-situ  leaching) are indeed alarming.  The central question remains:  Why embark on an exploration to identify rare-earth minerals in the first place, if the mining and processing of the minerals are so extremely environmentally damaging, with also serious human and public health costs?

SAM makes the following call on the authorities:

  • Firstly, in the interest of transparency, we call on the Kedah state government to make public and disclose the deal and the company involved in the venture. The public has a right to know what the company is tasked to do and where the exploratory activities will take place and what environmental and social safeguards are in place.

REE exploration is not without environmental and social impacts, especially when the elements are found in environmentally sensitive areas like forest reserves or where local communities reside.

  • Secondly, we call on the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KETSA) to make public the government’s policy on the development of the rare-earths industry, and seek public consultations prior to allowing states to embark on such ventures, not only in Kedah and Perak but anywhere else in the country.

Both the federal and state governments should not be blinded by promises of billions and trillions of ringgit in relation to the rare-earth industry, which has to be viewed as a dirty and toxic industry, similar to what we now know of the plastic and tobacco industries. 

We have to find alternatives to rare-earths given their damaging nature. 

Malaysia must get its priorities right and put the environment at the centre, and not continue to plunder and damage our natural resources, in the name of generating economic wealth. Clearly, we are not learning from lessons of the past on what it takes to be truly sustainable, but instead are leaving a toxic legacy for generations to come.

Meenakshi Raman

President


[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211464513000316

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
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My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
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Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
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Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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