"Myanmar junta’s growing reliance on extractives for cash raises concerns", 18 June 2021

Natural resources at risk

Decades of overexploitation of Myanmar’s natural resources have put the country’s ecosystems under tremendous pressure. [...] One rising concern is gemstone mining in northern Kachin state close to the border with China. In 2016, Myanmar’s government suspended the issuance of new licenses for jade mining but planned to restart in 2021, prior to the coup. [...]

Issuing of jade mining permits could be disastrous for the country, not only because it could provide significant funding for the military regime, but also due to the junta’s disregard for the environment, particularly in ethnic minority areas, Dietz said. Since the military took control of jade mining through peace deals with the Kachin Independence Army in the mid-1990s, environmental impacts have skyrocketed. [...]

Despite tighter border controls between Myanmar and China due to COVID-19, trucks carrying mining commodities, such as ammonium sulfate used to extract the metals, are reportedly passing through relatively unchecked.

An activist from the Transparency and Accountability Network Kachin (TANK) told the Irrawaddy, “Currently, vehicles carrying heavy rare earth leave day and night.” The group estimates that around 10 rare earth mines have opened near the border in Zam Nau, which is controlled by the military-affiliated New Democratic Army Kachin (NDAK). Moreover, local environmental groups estimate there are more than 100 rare earth mines in Pangwa and Chipwe townships controlled by junta-sponsored militia and Chinese investors. [...]