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In early 2025, Sian traveled deep into the mountains of Shan State, on Myanmar\u2019s eastern border with China, in search of work. He had heard from a friend that Chinese companies were recruiting at new rare-earth mining sites in territory administered by the United Wa State Army, Myanmar\u2019s most powerful ethnic armed group, and that workers could earn upwards of $1,400 a month.<\/p>\n
It was an opportunity too good to pass up in a country where the formal economy has\u00a0collapsed since the 2021 military coup and\u00a0nearly half of the population lives on less than $2 a day. So Sian set off by car for the town of Mong Pawk, then rode a motorbike for hours through the thick forest.<\/p>\n
Hired for daily wages of approximately $21, he now digs boreholes and installs pipes. It is the first step in a\u00a0process called in situ\u00a0leaching, which involves injecting acidic solutions into mountainsides, then collecting the drained solution in plastic-lined pools where solids, like dysprosium and terbium, two of the world\u2019s most sought-after heavy rare-earth metals, settle out. The resulting sediment sludge is then transported to furnaces and burned, producing dry rare earth oxides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
China processes most of the world\u2019s rare earths, but a significant portion of the raw material is mined in Myanmar.<\/p>\n
As geopolitics scrambles supply chains and global demand for rare earths has mushroomed, mining for these materials is on the rise in Myanmar, where thousands of laborers like Sian are flocking to mine sites on the country\u2019s eastern border with China. But the extraction and processing of rare earths is taking an increasing toll on the mine workers, nearby communities, and the environment. \u201cThe toxic effects of rare-earth mining are devastating, with poisoned rivers, contaminated soil, sickness, and displacement,\u201d said Jasnea Sarma, an ethnographer and political geographer at the University of Zurich.<\/p>\n
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China\u00a0holds most of the world\u2019s rare earth processing facilities, but since the early 2010s it has\u00a0tightened restrictions on domestic extraction as its\u00a0impacts have become apparent. Rare earth mining has since expanded just over China\u2019s southwestern border in Myanmar, where labor is cheap and environmental regulations weak.<\/p>\n
The industry is highly secretive. But this September, a journalist from Myanmar, who prefers not to be named for security reasons, visited rare earth mining sites in Wa territory near Mong Pawk for this article. This reporting confirmed that rare earth mining overseen by Chinese companies is rapidly expanding in Wa territory, and it provides firsthand details of the many ways this activity contaminates water sources and contributes to deforestation, damage to human health, and loss of livelihoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rare earth mining sites in the Mong Pawk region. Source: Shan Human Rights Foundation, Stimson Center.\u00a0<\/span> The 17 elements known as rare earths are distributed widely across the Earth\u2019s crust, but they are extracted in relatively few places due to ecological, geopolitical, and economic constraints. Used in electric vehicles and wind turbines, rare earths are also needed for the production of military hardware and other advanced technologies.<\/p>\n Rare earths are designated as \u201ccritical minerals\u201d by many of the world\u2019s superpowers \u2014 vital to economies and national security but vulnerable to supply chain disruption. They are also a\u00a0key commodity in the trade war between the United States and China, which has\u00a0tightened rare earth export restrictions over the past year in response to\u00a0escalating tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n China still processes most of the world\u2019s rare earths, but its import data shows that a significant portion of the raw material is mined in Myanmar. This makes Myanmar one of the global rare earth mining boom\u2019s largest sacrifice zones \u2014 defined by researchers and environmental justice advocates as places that disproportionately\u00a0endure the harmful effects of extraction so that others may benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis borderland has seen one extractive wave after another: teak, opium, jade, and now these so-called green minerals,\u201d says an expert.<\/p>\n No publicly accessible corporate databases show the licensing of active rare-earth mining operations in Myanmar. But Chinese customs data indicates that approximately two-thirds of its rare earth imports came from Myanmar between 2017 and 2024, according to\u00a0research conducted by the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, a think tank based in Thailand.<\/p>\n Satellite image analysis conducted by the nonprofit Myanmar Witness, in partnership with the Myanmar media outlet Mizzima, also reveals\u00a0hundreds of rare earth mining sites on the country\u2019s eastern border. The area is home to Indigenous communities who have been at odds with central military authorities since the country\u2019s independence from Britain in 1948. For decades, the military has negotiated ceasefires with ethnic armies while\u00a0allowing them to engage in a range of cross-border enterprises, sometimes while\u00a0taking a cut of the profits.<\/p>\n \u201cThis borderland has seen one extractive wave after another: teak, opium, jade, amber, bananas, and now these so-called green minerals,\u201d said Sarma. \u201cEthnic armies have to do business with China to survive. China needs the resources, and local communities, after decades of conflict, depend on this to live.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n A collection pool at a rare-earth mining site near Mong Pawk, Myanmar.<\/span> As the rule of law\u00a0deteriorated following Myanmar\u2019s 2021 coup, the pillaging of its natural resources\u00a0accelerated. In October 2024, an ethnic army fighting the military seized the rare-earth mining hub of Pangwa, in Kachin State, from a military-aligned\u00a0warlord, and China, which arms and\u00a0supports the Myanmar military,\u00a0closed its gate into the town. More than a year later, rare earth mining in Kachin has\u00a0yet to fully resume, while areas of Shan State \u2014 controlled by the United Wa State Army and another ethnic army with close ties to China \u2014 appear poised to emerge as new rare-earth mining frontiers.<\/p>\n China\u2019s mega dam project poses big risks for Asia\u2019s Grand Canyon. Read more.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat began as discovery has moved into full extraction\u2026 pulled by proximity to China,\u201d said Dr. Xu Peng, a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for the Study of Illicit Economies, Violence, and Development at SOAS University of London.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Shan Human Rights Foundation, a local civil society organization,\u00a0used satellite images to\u00a0expose rare earth mining in Shan State for the first time. This research, alongside further satellite\u00a0analysis conducted by the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, revealed 63 rare earth mining sites near the Chinese border and two sites bordering Thailand. Some of these sites were established as early as 2015 and may no longer be operational, but most emerged after the coup.<\/p>\n Armed authorities in Shan State keep a tight lid on information, including the names of Chinese companies operating there.<\/p>\n The news of these Shan State mines sparked public\u00a0outcry in Thailand, where chemicals associated with rare earth mining have\u00a0heavily contaminated rivers relied upon for drinking water, agriculture, and fishing. But no such response has emerged in Shan State, where mining companies and armed authorities keep a tight lid on information, including the names of the Chinese companies operating there.\u00a0<\/p>\n Businesses involved in Myanmar\u2019s rare earth mining industry have reason to be secretive: Their operations put people and the environment at risk. \u201cThis year, there was an accident during excavation and a worker was buried,\u201d said Sian. \u201cOnly later, after the soil was washed away by heavy rain and landslides, was his body recovered.\u201d In 2023 and 2024, local media outlets documented the death or disappearance of\u00a0dozens of workers in three\u00a0landslides in Kachin State.<\/p>\n Research published in March by scholars at the University of Warwick and the Kachinland Research Centre, based in Kachin State, attributed these landslides to \u201clarge-scale deforestation,\u201d undertaken to both clear land for mines and supply firewood for the furnaces used to convert sediment sludge to dry rare earth oxides \u2014 a process that can take 48 to 72 hours. Another factor contributing to landslides, the researchers found, was the injection of water and leaching agents into the hillsides.<\/p>\n Satellite views of a rare earth mine recently established near Mong Pawk.<\/span> Workers in Shan State described fragile landscapes. \u201cThe environment near the site faces constant problems like landslides, mountain collapses, and stream flooding, especially during the rainy season,\u201d said an on-site cook, speaking on the condition of anonymity. \u201cLarge trucks often fall into sinkholes. The ground is soft, which sometimes leads to fatal accidents.\u201d<\/p>\n Chemical exposure and the inhalation of toxic particles are also major concerns. \u201cMany workers suffer from lung issues,\u201d said Sian. \u201cBecause of contact with acid, some workers also develop rashes, redness, itching, or chemical burns on their skin and eyes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Nearby communities also feel the impacts. \u201cMany households reported more frequent respiratory illnesses, skin conditions, and headaches, which they believe are linked to pollution from nearby mining activities and dust from deforestation,\u201d said the journalist who visited Wa for this article. \u201cIn some villages, families said children and elderly people are especially affected. They worry that contaminated water sources from mining operations are harming both their health and their livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n Research conducted by Myanmar Resource Watch, a civil society organization, found that companies mining rare earths in Myanmar rely on a wide range of chemicals classified as hazardous \u2014 including sulfuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids \u2014 and that these companies routinely violate regulations on the chemicals\u2019 import, transport, storage, use, and disposal. Not only can hydrochloric acid kill aquatic life, it also dissolves heavy metals, like cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury, and radioactive materials, like thorium and uranium, from soil and rocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n A chemical pool at a rare earth mining site near Mong Pawk, in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army.<\/span> While no quantitative studies have been published on the environmental impacts of rare earth mining in Shan State, research from Kachin State offers some indication of the potential risks. In April, Tanapon Phenrat of Thailand\u2019s Naresuan University published a\u00a0study based on analysis of surface water and topsoil samples taken at or downstream from rare earth mining sites in Kachin. He identified \u201csevere contamination\u201d of the water, \u201cextremely acidic pH levels,\u201d and \u201calarmingly high concentrations\u201d of ammonia, chloride, radioactive elements, and toxic heavy metals.<\/p>\n He also found that metals and metalloids present in water samples posed \u201csubstantial risk\u201d to aquatic ecosystems and that the water at some of the testing sites was \u201centirely unsuitable for human consumption, irrigation, or fish culture without extensive treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Rare earth elements themselves can also adversely impact human health, according to secondary\u00a0research published in 2024 in the journal Toxics. This review found that exposure to rare earth elements through inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact can destroy organ structure and function, affecting the respiratory, nervous, cardiovascular, reproductive, and immune systems.<\/p>\n Cambodian forest defenders at risk for exposing illegal logging. Read more.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, the way these minerals are governed often overlooks a major problem,\u201d said Thaw Htoo, a PhD candidate of geography and sustainability at the University of Lausanne who conducts her research using a pseudonym due to safety concerns. \u201cThey are essential for the global green transition, yet their extraction is happening with almost no rules. The case of Myanmar shows why we need to rethink what \u2018critical minerals\u2019 means and make sure we consider not only supply security, but also the safety and well-being of communities and the environment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n Ella Beiser and Federico Acosta Rainis \/ Pulitzer Center \u2022 Created with Datawrapper \u2022 Copyright OpenStreetMap contributors<\/span><\/p>\n
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