IPOH, Dec 24 — The public hearing of the standard operating procedures (SOP) for non-radioactive rare earth elements (NR-REE) development in Perak has concluded that such a project will focus on large-scale mining.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said the public hearing held last Sunday was aimed at getting feedback on the SOP developed by the project stakeholders.

“It is to ensure that the NR-REE mining is being done in a responsible and sustainable manner and well-supervised at the pre-mining, mining and post-mining stages,” he said in a statement here today.

He said several issues were raised during the hearing including underground water pollution, methods of mitigation and monitoring of the activity.

“A possible alternative mining method apart from the in-situ leaching (ISL) was also discussed so as not to depend on just one method,” he said.

Takiyuddin said all suggestions would be taken into considerations in making amendments to the SOP.

A total of 106 individuals, comprising industry players, consultant engineers, academicians and representatives of government agencies and non-governmental organisations took part in the public hearing, which was also streamed live to over 200 other participants via Zoom and Facebook.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency