Large-scale gold mining has rapidly expanded in Mong Ngaw, Kyaukme Township in northern Shan State, with operations using heavy machinery now covering former farmland. Local residents say paddy fields have been transformed into mounds of earth as extraction continues, bringing noise, environmental degradation, and the loss of agricultural livelihoods. They allege that the expansion intensified with involvement from armed groups and links to Chinese business interests. According to villagers, excavation has rendered soil infertile and triggered a cascade of land sales as farming becomes untenable, raising fears of long-term displacement and the collapse of local communities.