Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) has expressed shock that the Perak government and Putrajaya have inked a deal with a Chinese company to undertake the exploration of rare earth minerals in the state.

SAM president Meenakshi Raman said Perak has not learnt the "tragic lessons" of the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant that resulted in serious radioactive poisoning in the Bukit Merah community.

"There were high incidences of deaths among children who suffered from leukaemia and cancer, children with elevated levels of lead in their blood and above normal rates of miscarriages among pregnant women," she said in a statement.

Meenakshi warned that just adding the word "sustainable" to rare earth mining and processing does not make an inherently dangerous and risky activity safe.

"Especially if we are talking about radioactive thorium and uranium wastes that remain hazardous in the environment for generations to come.

"It is most irresponsible of the Perak government and Ministry of Water, Land and Natural Resources to promote environmentally unsound investments in rare earths, despite the ARE lesson and the controversial Lynas rare earth operations in Gebeng, Pahang," she said.

Meenakshi was referring to a memorandum of understanding signed between the Perak government and a Chinese company, Chinalco GXNF Rare Earth Development, to undertake the exploration of rare earth minerals in Perak.

This was announced on Nov 16 by the Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry, which described the initiative as a “positive move”.

The move comes amid dissatisfaction from environmental and health-conscious citizens over Mara's deal with Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd "to catalyse Malaysia's downstream rare earth industrial, research and technological capabilities".

Meenakshi said clearly, the exploratory work would be the first step in embarking on rare earth mining in the state, adding that SAM viewed this development with utmost concern.

She reminded that Perak is already home to a radioactive permanent waste facility in the Kledang Range that contains "dangerous and harmful wastes" of thorium and uranium inherited from ARE plant which operated in Bukit Merah, Ipoh during the mid-1980s to 1990s.

"These wastes will remain radioactive for billions of years and pose high risks to the people of Perak," she said.

Meenakshi urged the Perak government and the ministry to act responsibly to halt investments that bring huge profits for companies in the short-term but leave behind toxic, radioactive and hazardous legacies of waste dumps for generations to be burdened with.

"Do not to embark on any rare earth mining activities in the state. The Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry should not be promoting such rare earth mining with the dubious label of sustainable mining.

"Instead, we should be promoting environmentally sound investments that benefit the public and the environment both in the short and long terms," she said.