Malaysia to keep bauxite mining on hold amid environmental impact studies

Malaysia said that bauxite miners must each conduct a study on the environmental impact of their sites in the country before receiving licences to restart operations, with a moratorium on mining the aluminium raw material due to end on March 31.

No date has been set for when the environmental impact assessments (EIAs) will begin, but the resources ministry said on Wednesday that each one would take at least six months to complete.