Chinese company behind expanding gold, rare-earth mining in eastern Shan State: report

A Chinese state-backed company has been actively involved in gold and rare-earth mining operations in eastern Shan State’s Mong Hsat Township, according to a report released by the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) on Wednesday. The report details recent activity along the Kok River in the Mong Yawn area, in the southern part of the township near the Thai border. The area is under the joint control of Myanmar’s military junta and the United Wa State Army (UWSA). According to the report, the main operator is the China Investment Mining Company, which is 90 percent owned by another Chinese state-backed company, the Shanghai Chijin Xiawu Metal Resources Co. Ltd., that mines rare earths in northern Laos. Although neither the regime nor the UWSA have disclosed any information about the company’s presence in the area, the SHRF said it had firm evidence of its involvement. “We have received information from reliable inside sources. It’s happening here, and they are involved,” SHRF spokesperson Ying Leng Harn told Myanmar Now. Satellite images included in the report show rapid expansion of gold mining sites near the Kok River, about 30km upstream from the Thai border. Runoff from these mines, containing heavy metals dislodged from the earth, flows down directly into the river, according to the report. Chemical waste from processing facilities is also likely draining directly into the river, it said. The report also includes updated information on two rare-earth mines, located on either side of the Kok River, first detected in May. Both have shown signs of significant development in recent months, the report said. In addition to polluting the river through an environmentally damaging in-situ leaching process that involves injecting large quantities of chemicals into hillsides to extract the minerals, the mines are also contributing to more severe flooding on both sides of the border, according to Ying Leng Harn. “The Chinese government should take responsibility for these issues in an accountable manner,” she said, adding that the regime and the UWSA were also violating human rights by allowing such activity “without a lawful governance system that grants people the right to decide over their own natural resources.” Barrels of sodium cyanide found near mining sites in eastern Shan State (Photo: Supplied) A researcher who visited eastern Shan State earlier this year told Myanmar Now that mining activities have expanded rapidly, with many Myanmar-owned operations being taken over by Chinese firms. “It’s really bad,” she said. “They’ve sold off the Myanmar companies’ sites to the Chinese, who do whatever they want. Along the roadside, you can see sodium cyanide barrels everywhere.” The Kok River flows from Mong Hsat District into parts of northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces before joining the Mekong River. Mining in the UWSA-controlled upper reaches have long caused serious pollution, flooding, and other environmental problems. Testing conducted on the Thai side of the border in April found arsenic and lead concentrations exceeding safety standards, prompting local residents and environmental activists to urge immediate measures to save the river. Resource-monitoring groups say that since around 2011, when China tightened domestic controls on rare-earth mining, Chinese-backed companies have shifted their operations to Myanmar’s Kachin State and eastern Shan State, where weak oversight and conflict conditions allow extractive industries to operate without constraint.

Chinese company behind expanding gold, rare-earth mining in eastern Shan State: report

The report raises concerns about unregulated mining by the China Investment Mining Company in an area jointly controlled by Myanmar’s junta and the UWSA

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