ALOR STAR: The Kedah government aims to commence non-radioactive rare earth elements (REE) mineral extraction by next year.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said this was made possible following the discovery of the REE mineral deposit at a site belonging to a state-owned company, which is not within a forest reserve.
Sanusi said the site was, therefore, not subject to restrictions of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, which prohibits mining activities in forest reserves.
"We have a site owned by a state government subsidiary (GLC) that is not located within a forest reserve. Hence, we will proceed with mining extraction at the site as, in this case, the Department of Environment (DoE) is not bound by the prohibitions under the ministry.
"Insha Allah, REE will become a new source of revenue for Kedah by 2025," he told the State Assembly during the debate session of the Kedah 2025 Budget today.
Sanusi was responding to a question from Ts Dr Mohd Suffian Yusoff (Perikatan Nasional Bandar Baharu) regarding the state government's preparedness to adopt foreign technology for REE.
The Menteri besar informed the House that the state government had granted an exploration licence for REE minerals to three investors.
"One of the three investors granted the exploration licence for REE minerals has expressed commitment to bringing in technology from the United States.
"First, the drying process needs to be carried out, followed by extracting several elements, and then moving to downstream sectors for battery production. The technology is ready, but we are awaiting approval from the DoE to begin the process," he said.
Sanusi added that compared with the United States, China has more advanced technology in REE mineral mining, with the capability to process 17 elements of REE mineral, whereas the US technology is only capable of processing seven elements at present. However, he said China strictly bans the technology from being exported.
"China enforces a policy that its technology cannot be exported, while our federal government has a policy that prohibits exporting raw REE minerals.
"Thus, the state government will take a cautious approach to ensure standard operating procedures are adhered to," he said.
On Sunday, Sanusi urged the federal government to expedite the implementation of a proper SOP for REE extraction.
The REE reserves in Kedah are estimated at 1.196 million metric tonnes.