GEORGE TOWN: Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is gravely concerned over the announcement by Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor that the state had entered an agreement with a Kuala Lumpur-based joint venture company to explore rare earth elements (REE).
According to media reports, Sanusi had claimed that the REE found in Sik, Ulu Muda and Baling in Kedah, was not radioactive.
SAM president R. Meenakshi said similar claims were made last year by the former Water, Land and Natural Resources minister, 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 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. We call on the Menteri Besar 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 is very serious environmental damage and human-health costs related to the mining and leaching of ion-adsorption rare-earth clay resources," she said today.
Yesterday, a local company based in Kuala Lumpur had been awarded an approval permit to explore and extract REE in Kedah.
Sanusi had said that Kedah had mineral deposits estimated at RM62 billion throughout the state and the company was given the approval last week to carry out exploration work in one area in the state.
He, however, did not state the estimated value of the mineral deposits involved in the area and when the company would carry out exploration.
Sanusi had also said that the mineral was also described as non-radioactive and in high demand, especially in the manufacturing sector of digital technology components such as smartphones and laptops.
Meenakshi said a 2013 study by six Chinese university academics on the consequences in Southern China of the ion-absorption rare-earth industry revealed devastating environmental effects in the region.
The study, 'China's ion-adsorption rare-earth resources, mining consequences and preservation' had 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."
Meenakhsi stressed that these findings on both categories of activity (surface/mountaintop mining and in-situ leaching) were 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?
"As such, in the interest of transparency, SAM calls 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," she added.
REE exploration, Meenakshi pointed out, was 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 Energy and Natural Resources Ministry 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," she said.
Malaysia, she said, must get its priorities right and put 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," she lamented.