China Minmetals Rare Earth Co. Ltd. suspended production at its Ganxian Hongjin Rare Earth Co., Ltd. unit after authorities flagged the latter's pollution issues, Reuters reported Aug. 15, citing an exchange filing.
Last year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment already notified parent company China Minmetals Corp. about Ganxian's hydrogen chloride and organic waste problems at its four extraction plants and three workshops. However, the group did not immediately act to fix it, the report said, citing Xinhua News Agency.
In an emailed statement to the newswire, a China Minmetals spokesman said the company accepted the findings and vowed to launch a probe shortly to find who was responsible for the violations.
Minmetals is one of two state firms currently under scrutiny by the Chinese government in a new round of environmental inspections, the report said.
