Malaysia imposes three-month ban on bauxite mining

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA said that it will ban bauxite mining for three months starting Jan 15 due to concerns over its impact on the environment, in a move that could hurt stockpiles of the aluminium making ingredient in China.

Malaysia's bauxite mining industry has boomed in the past two years to meet demand from top aluminium producer China, but a lack of regulations has led to a public outcry with many complaining of water contamination and environmental damages following a frenetic pace of digging.

Just last month, bauxite mining was blamed for turning the waters and seas red near Kuantan, the capital of Malaysia's third-largest state and key bauxite producer Pahang. "Everything (bauxite mining) will come to a complete stop on Jan 15," Malaysia's natural resources and environment minister, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, said in a press conference.

In the first month, stockpiles at the Kuantan port will be cleared and cleaning facilities will be installed, the minister said on Wednesday, adding that stockpiles in 11 other locations will be cleared in the second month.

Regulations will be imposed on the transport of bauxite as well as cleaning of mining sites, and the ban may be extended if mining firms do not comply, the minister said. Malaysia will also freeze new bauxite export permits for the three months.

"The Cabinet has decided to leave it to the industry to take measures to protect the environment. But if they cannot do what we, the federal and state governments, want them to do, then we will have no choice but to extend the moratorium."

Some estimates suggest that a three-month Malaysian mining ban could shave about six million tonnes off China's current bauxite stockpiles of around 25-30 million tonnes.

Malaysia accounted for over 40 per cent of China's 49 million tonnes of bauxite imports across January to November last year. In 2013, it had shipped only 162,000 tonnes to China. REUTERS