"Chinese state-backed company behind expanded rare earth and gold mines along Kok River in eastern Shan State", Shan Human Rights Foundation, 28 October 2025

New satellite images show expansion of rare earth and gold mines along the Kok River in [...] eastern Shan State [...].

The expansion of these three mining sites despite harmful contamination of the Kok River is extremely worrying [...].

The Mong Yawn area of eastern Mong Hsat township is jointly controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the Burmese military regime, necessitating permission from both entities for the mines to operate. According to inside sources, the operator of both the rare earth mines and the main gold mining operation along the Kok River in Mong Yawn is China Investment Mining Company, which is carrying out rare earth mining in northern Laos.

China Investment Mining Company is 90% owned by Shanghai Chijin Xiawu Metal Resources Co. Ltd., which is a joint venture formed in September 2022 to develop rare earth resources in Laos by China’s state-backed Xiamen Tungsten Corporation and Chifeng Gold, the largest non-state owned gold producer in China.

Recent satellite images of China Investment Mining Company’s rare earth mines northeast of Muang Kham town [...] of northern Laos [...] already shows widespread environmental destruction [...]. The Muang Kham rare earth mines drain into the Nam Khao stream, then into the Nam Khan River, which joins the Mekong River at Luang Prabang.