Have you just bought a new smartphone, or an electric vehicle, or a fancy tech watch? What are the chances your purchase may have contributed to environmental degradation and the poisoning of villagers in northern Myanmar.

In a shocking in-depth report just released by Global Witness, the largely hidden and damaging sourcing by Chinese companies of rare earths in Myanmar is revealed.

Global Witness has just published “Myanmar's poisoned mountains: The toxic rare earth mining industry at the heart of the global green energy transition” that looks at the rapid expansion of illegal mining in Myanmar of heavy rare earth minerals, used in green energy technologies, smartphones and home electronics, with the industry fuelling human rights abuses, environmental destruction and funding local militias linked to the brutal military regime that grabbed power in February 2021.

What is clear is that Myanmar is now world’s biggest source of supply of heavy rare earths, used in green energy technologies.

What is problematic is that the illegal rare earth mines in northern Myanmar are poisoning surrounding land and waterways, and harming local communities, wildlife and environment.

The mines are funding military-linked militias that control the industry with an iron fist and have threatened to shoot local community members if they refuse to give up their land to make way for new mines.

The report says that minerals illegally mined in Myanmar, and channeled to factories in China, risk ending up in products of global brands.

Using this logic, world consumers, through their purchases, are unknowingly contributing to the problems in northern Myanmar.

CHINA’S BACKYARD

What is clear is that China’s technology industry is looking largely to the lawless hills of northern Myanmar for heavy rare earths that they need for production for a range of high-tech products in the billion-dollar industries. This is in part due to efforts within China to clean up local mining.

The Global Witness investigation shows that within the space of just a few years China has outsourced much of its heavy rare earth mining industry across the border to a remote corner of Kachin State in northern Myanmar, which is now the world’s largest source of these critical minerals. There is a high risk these minerals are ending up in the supply chains of major household name companies that use heavy rare earths in their products including Tesla, Volkswagen, General Motors, Siemens, and Mitsubishi Electric.

Using cutting-edge satellite imagery, interviews with affected communities and industry experts, and data analysis, the investigation reveals the scale and speed of the growth in rare earth mining in

Myanmar over the past five years, placing it at the centre of the global supply chain for these minerals.

FAST EXPANSION

A core element of the investigation is the speed at which Chinese companies have moved in to rape the Myanmar hills.

The analysis shows there were just a handful of rare earth mines in Kachin State in 2016, whereas by March 2022, a satellite the NGO commissioned revealed over 2,700 mining collection pools at almost 300 separate locations, covering an area the size of Singapore.

“Our investigation reveals that China has effectively offshored this toxic industry to Myanmar over the past few years, with terrible consequences for local communities and the environment,” said Mike Davis, CEO of Global Witness.

The processes used to extract heavy rare earths are highly polluting and the investigation reveals that the impacts on local ecosystems, livelihoods, and access to safe drinking water have been devastating. Local communities in Kachin have reported that hazardous waste from the mining area is flowing directly into the N'Mai Kha River, a tributary of the Ayeyarwady, Myanmar’s most important river, whose basin is home to two-thirds of the country’s population of 54 million people and a crucial source of water.

HEALTH ISSUES

Multiple health issues that were reported near the rare earth mines in China, including osteoporosis, respiratory diseases, and gastrointestinal, skin and eye problems have also been reported by residents living close to the mines in Myanmar. The mountainous area where mining is concentrated, known as Kachin Special Region 1, is also rich in biodiversity and home to dozens of rare and endangered plant and animal species all now threatened by the pollution and deforestation caused by the rapid expansion in rare earth mining.

Huge sums of money from this illegal trade have benefitted the local warlord in charge of the mining territory, Zakhung Ting Ying, who controls militia units that are part of the Myanmar military’s chain of command, and others that are loyal to the military. Together with members of his family and other militia leaders, Zakhung Ting Ying has become the central broker of Myanmar’s rare earth industry, making backroom deals with Chinese businesses that are illegal under Myanmar law. His militia’s links to the military regime means that there is a high risk that revenues from rare earth mining are being used to fund the military’s war machines that is responsible for human rights abuses and crushing of dissent, which have further intensified since the February 2021 coup.

RAPING THE HILLS

The mining is highly destructive and damaging on an environmental and public health level.

“Rare earth mining is the latest natural resource heist by Myanmar’s military, which has funded itself for decades by looting the country’s rich natural resources, including the multi-billion-dollar jade, gemstone, and timber industries,” Davis says.

“Since the 2021 coup, the regime has relied on natural resources to sustain its illegal power grab and with demand for rare earths booming, the military will no doubt be spotting an opportunity to fill its coffers and fund its abuses. The fact that tainted rare earths from Myanmar are entering global supply chains shows the need to broaden international sanctions against the military to include these crucial minerals,” he added.

The investigation shows the dangers faced by civil society groups and community members, including indigenous people, if they speak out against this illicit industry, with the militias who run the area fostering a violent and repressive environment.

For example, exclusive evidence seen by the NGO shows that two leaders of a local militia unit called village representatives into a recent meeting and threatened to shoot them if they refused to give up their land to make way for new mines.

“Brave local people are risking their lives to speak out against these destructive mines and defend their land, livelihoods and sources of water, despite the threats they face from the local militias,” Davis noted.

FUNNELED TO CHINA

Illegally mined rare earths from Myanmar are processed in China by state-owned companies, which sell to permanent magnet manufacturers supplying to some of the world’s best-known global brands making electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics, including General Motors, Mitsubishi Electric, Siemens, Tesla and Volkswagen.

These revelations come against the backdrop of a huge increase in demand for these minerals as production of green energy technologies ramps up, with total demand for processed rare earth minerals for magnet production set to triple by 2035.

“The disturbing reality is that the cash that is fuelling the environmental and human rights abuses caused by Myanmar’s rare earth mining industry ultimately stems from the global push to scale up renewables,” said Davis. “As the climate crisis accelerates and demand for these low-carbon technologies skyrocket, today’s findings must be a wake-up call that the green energy transition cannot come at the cost of communities in resource-rich countries, and must instead be equitable and sustainable, prioritising the rights of those who are most impacted.”

Contrary to what the name suggests, rare earths are not that rare, and can be found in many places around the world. However, certain countries stand out when it comes to destructively digging up the earth in the mining process.

China dominates the rare earth extraction field on a world level with a 37.9% share, compared to Vietnam at 18.9%, Brazil at 18.1%, Russia at 10.3% and other countries making up 14.8%, according to the United States Geological Survey. When it comes to processing and refining rare earths, China is even further ahead with a 60.6% share.

Ironically, scientific studies indicate that green energy, renewable energy and “green products” typically come at a heavy environmental and social price, as potentially damaging and unsustainable

as the fossil fuel-based industries many governments are trying to move away from under the mantra of “climate change”.

Filmmaker Michael Moore’s controversial documentary “Planet of the Humans” released in 2019 probed the problem with the sustainability of so-called “green industries” and the shift to renewables. The underlying argument from Moore was that the massive drive to “save the planet” seeking to tackle what is claimed to be man-made climate change using green industries was just as unstainable as the fossil fuel path.

CALL FOR ACTION

Whatever the pros and cons of high-tech industries and the damage caused on an environmental and social level, northern Myanmar clearly is in crisis.

Global Witness is calling for urgent action to ensure that the local communities and the environment are protected as companies and governments ramp up investment in critical minerals.

The NGO is calling on companies to stop mining heavy rare earth in Myanmar and ensure that rare earths from Myanmar do not enter global supply chains, in recognition that mining is illegal and is funding armed groups and environmental and human rights abuses.

In addition, they say governments must impose import restrictions for rare earth elements produced in Myanmar unless companies can present clear and convincing evidence that their products are not linked to human rights abuses, illegality or corruption. They should also impose sanctions on armed actors illegally profiting from the rare earth industry, to prevent profits from being used by Myanmar’s brutal regime.

Finally, governments should introduce stronger policies including producer responsibility laws and recycling targets to reduce the harms associated with extraction and promote investment into designing heavy rare earths out of key products.

The Global Witness investigation and report are clearly important in highlighting an industry that tends to operate under the radar. However, the core of the problem lies with demand from companies in China, and the demand for rare earth and related products from a host of foreign companies – many with household names - that use China to supply them.

Few consumers realize what switching on their smartphone or pressing the accelerator of their electric vehicles means for the villagers and environment in northern Myanmar.

Sources: Global Witness, United States Geological Survey, Mizzima

The Global Witness report can be found at: https://www.globalwitness.org

First published in Mizzima Weekly as: RARE EARTH - Modern-day mineral sourcing for China costs Myanmar dearly