An Australian-backed company has continued to explore for gold in a violence-racked part of Myanmar since the army seized power in February, The Guardian reported quoting the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF).

Representatives of Access Asia Mining met local officials in Mong Phyak, a city in the eastern Shan State, as recently as 8 March, it said.

Access Asia Mining holds the right to explore for gold across 1,800 sq km of land in Shan state, an area of Myanmar that borders Thailand, Laos and China. The tenements are part of a total 4,800 sq km that Access Asia Mining has rights to explore in Myanmar.