Key facts
- Tanaka Precious Metal Group and MEP Enviro Technology will form a joint venture.
- The new plant will be located in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang, Malaysia.
- Tanaka will hold a 66.7% stake, and MEP will hold 33.3%.
- The facility will refine precious metals to 4N (99.99%) purity.
- The plant aims to supply gold and other precious metals to the semiconductor industry.
Japan's Tanaka Precious Metal Group is partnering with Malaysian company MEP Enviro Technology to establish a joint venture, Tanaka MEP Refinery, in Malaysia. The new facility, located in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Penang, will focus on recycling precious metals from semiconductor and electronic component production scrap. Tanaka will hold a 66.7% stake in the venture, with MEP holding 33.3%. The plant is slated to begin operations in April 2029, aiming to refine gold to 4N (99.99%) purity and produce potassium gold cyanide for the electronics and semiconductor industries. The initiative is driven by increasing demand for precious metal recovery in the ASEAN region's growing semiconductor manufacturing sector. A groundbreaking ceremony for the facility took place on October 8, 2026.