The Perak State Development Corporation (PSDC) clarified today that the state government had not approved any rare earth project in Bukit Merah.
The PSDC, the state’s investment arm, explained that its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on April 18 with Hong Kong’s CVM Minerals Limited merely allows the firm to study the viability of mining for rare earth in Bukit Merah.
“Both parties wish to conduct feasibility or exploration studies on the viability of rare earth mining.
“The PSDC and CVM do not wish to develop any project to process rare earth in Perak,” PSDC chief executive officer Datuk Samsudin Hashim said in a statement this evening.
He added that the MoU had a six-month deadline and would be automatically cancelled should the company fail to receive approval from any local authority or if the project was not viable.
Samsudin also said the terms of the MoU stipulate that there would be no “binding effects” on both parties, and CVM Minerals would fund the cost of the feasibility study.
“Should the feasibility study touch on the possibility of having a joint venture, it would depend on an approval from both parties,” he added.
For now, he said, the matter was still being studied and the state government had yet to give its approval.
“As such, the issue of environmental pollution does not arise at this point. Both parties are aware of this and will prevent any involvement of such pollution arising from activities that could cause these effects,” said Samsudin.
He added that the PSDC has yet to receive any preliminary report from CVM Minerals on its study.
Samsudin also said there was no “binding effects” from the MoU on both parties and CVM would fund the cost of the feasibility study.
“Should the feasibility study touch on the possibility of having a joint venture, it would depend on an approval from both parties,” he added.
It was reported yesterday that the Perak government had entered into an agreement with CVM Minerals allowing it to explore and mine for rare earth in Bukit Merah, even as controversy continues to rage over a similar effort in Gebeng, Kuantan.
Speaking to The Malaysian Insider yesterday, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir (picture) denied any knowledge of such an MoU and expressed disapproval that his consent had not been sought.
Zambry, who is the PSDC chairman, also said that any rare earth project in the state would be subject to the same standards required by the federal government that recently put Kuantan’s Lynas Corp plant on ice after public outcry over potential radiation pollution.
In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 18, CVM Minerals announced it had entered into the MoU with the PSDC to carry out the project in Bukit Merah.
Bukit Merah was also the site of Malaysia’s last rare earth plant 20 years ago, which is still undergoing a massive RM300 million clean-up. The Japanese-owned Mitsubishi Chemical’s Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant has been linked to eight cases of leukaemia, seven resulting in death.
Samsudin also stressed today that CVM Minerals and PSDC had no connection whatsoever to the Mitsubishi Chemical rare earth plant.
He explained that CVM Minerals was one of the PSDC’s investment companies where it holds 135.3 million shares or 3.85 per cent and is a local firm listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
“The company’s main activity is manufacturing minerals like magnesium and it has an integrated operation in Kamunting, Taiping. The factory is already in operations and manufactures magnesium ingots for the local and foreign market.
“CVM has high expertise in the mineral industry and has several ventures with several local research institutes in Malaysia and in China.
“CVM is also in discussion with PSDC and the NCIA (Northern Corridor Implementation Authority) over the establishment of a Perak Minerals Centre of Excellence,” he said.
Samsudin pledged that the PSDC would seek input from all quarters over development plans for the state’s minerals industry, particularly covering the aspect of environmental concerns, the potential of the minerals mined and changes in technology.
“At this stage, PSDC is not bound by any financial or environmental risks seeing as we are only at the stage where the project is being studied,” he said.
