Myanmar: Future of rare earth mining uncertain as Kachin forces take control of key region
“A ‘new chapter’? The future of rare earth mining under KIO rule” 4 December 2024
Since the Kachin Independence Army began a full-scale attack in September, it has seized the mountainous region from a Border Guard Force and militia linked to Myanmar’s military junta. The future of the lucrative rare earths industry now hangs in the balance...
Chinese companies dominate the industry in Myanmar, extracting rare earths and then transporting them across the Yunnan province border for processing before distributing them globally...
To mine rare earths, workers pour acid into holes dug into mountains and move the resulting sediment into chemical leaching pools. Then, they lay out the rare earths to dry, burn off excess residue, pack it into bags and load it onto trucks bound for China. The extent of the health effects on workers, who often wear little or no protective gear, remains unclear. But contaminated water supplies, degraded soil and loss of forest cover are clearly evident...
The mining expanded after the 2021 coup. While the illicit nature of the industry masks its full scale, Chinese customs data show that rare earth imports from Myanmar jumped from 17,400 tonnes in 2020 to more than 40,000 in 2023...
a humanitarian crisis in Pangwa was averted on October 18, when KIA-led forces easily took control of the town...Over the following week, China officially closed six border crossings into Kachin that are now under the control of the KIO....
The border shutdowns have had far-reaching effects. Food, petrol and commodity prices have risen across Kachin according to Kachin News Group, which also reported petrol shortages in the state capital Myitkyina...Rare earth mining operations also stopped...
The KIO’s track record on that front is mixed. In April last year it cancelled plans to allow rare earth mining in the Nbapa area of Mansi Township following intense public protests. But when protests erupted against new rare earth mines in Hpare in February this year, the KIO responded by firing grenades to disperse the crowd and detaining more than 40 people...
The KIO says it is aware of the challenges ahead. Colonel Naw Bu, the KIO’s information officer, told Frontier on November 29 that the organisation had suspended all rare earth mining in its newly seized territory while preparing a policy paper.
“It will outline how we will develop that region, how we plan to extract resources, and how we will continue or regulate the mining activities,” he said. “There will definitely be environmental protections included in the policy, as well as plans for roads, infrastructure, schools and hospitals.” ...