But do we have any footprint in the rare earth and do we really have the mineral resources in our country? According to the United States Department of Energy, the rare earth industry is currently being conquered by China with a share of 58% in mining-upstream, 89% in separation- midstream, 90% at metal refining-midstream, and 92% at magnet manufacturing-downstream. A few countries including USA, Myanmar, and Australia are involved heavily in the upstream activity due to the potential mineral resources. Malaysia is captured as one of the countries involved in midstream (separation) whereas Thailand and Vietnam are involved in midstream (metal refining). Japan is very much focused at downstream (magnet manufacturing) due to the presence of key manufacturers such as Shin-Etsu, Sumitomo and the likes. For the upstream segment, Malaysia is still in the early stages of venturing into large-scale operations and mass commercial levels. As reported by JMG, Malaysia has potential total deposit inferred resources of 16.1 million tonnes of Rare Earth Elements (REE) and they are mainly located in Terengganu (7,187,500 tonne TREO), Kelantan (2,562,500 tonne TREO), Perak (1,687,500 tonne TREO), Kedah (1,256,250 tonne TREO), and Pahang (1,250,000 tonne TREO). Several states are at an advantage as far as rare earth extraction is concerned, since the mineral is deposited outside of reserved forest or protected areas i.e., Hutan Simpanan Kekal (HSK), Kawasan Perlindungan dan Kawasan Sensitif Alam Sekitar (KSAS). At present, there is one legal mining activity operated by MCRE Sdn. Bhd. based on a partnership between the Perak State Government and Chinalco (one of China’s state-owned enterprises). The project focus is on extracting light-heavy rare earth by using the In-Site Leaching (ISL) technology based on the established Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for NR-REE Mining in Perak. With the successful operation of the mining activity in Kenering, Gerik, Perak, this SOP will also be emulated by other states. With few improvements incorporated, this will accelerate the mining process and enable legal activity in a sustainable manner.
The present situation of the midstream sector can be seen in the activities of Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) located in Gebeng, Pahang. The existing processes which comprise of cracking, leaching, separation, and product finishing is running at a production capacity of 7200 REO tonnes/annum. However, Lynas is currently importing the rare earth material from Mount Weld, Australia, and the products are exported to global customers from Asia, Europe, and USA, including key customers such as Shin-Etsu, Grace, Showa Denko, AGC Asahi Glass, and BASF. The existing process plant also has the capability to process local rare earth elements and require further process modification. Despite Lynas playing a significant role in the global rare earth value chain, the local industry development seems stagnant and fails to advance to a higher level. This situation is contributed by the unsupportive policies faced by Lynas while operating, causing other investors to withdraw their interests and choose to invest elsewhere. During the 10 years that Lynas was in operation, we failed to take the opportunity to become a key figure at the global level. Meanwhile, we see the downstream sector focusing on manufacturing activities to produce high value-added products from rare earths such as super magnets and electric motors. These high-end products are then supplied to the System Integrators (SI) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) for the final product integration. The development of the downstream sector is important as this will provide a multiplier economic impact to other industry sectors and position our country and local players as manufacturers of high value-added products in the global supply chain. As of now, there are a few local players involved in the manufacturing and trading of magnetic products. Based on industry intelligence, the involvement of our industry players in this arena can also be categorised based on the different business focus and strategies such as The Makers, The Strugglers, and The Traders.
Malaysian Technology Strategic Outlook 2023/2024 Energy, Healthcare & Space Industry 62
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker