How Myanmar's civil war is fueling the rise of rare earth mining

Decades of conflict have turned Myanmar into a victim of a clandestine industry that harms local communities and endangers workers. This news analysis was co-published with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network and republished by Rest of World. Early this year, Min had few options when he was forced to leave the hot, dry plains of central Myanmar for the mountainous eastern region near the Chinese border. The country’s normal economic activities had collapsed following the 2021 military coup, and jobs were scarce. Min’s home state of Sagaing had become a center of armed resistance, making it a target for airstrikes and other retaliatory attacks. Furthermore, the military junta’s implementation of a mandatory conscription law in 2024 has accelerated the flight of young men from junta-controlled territories. As many of his peers fled Myanmar, Min paid a broker 2,000 Chinese yuan (US$290) to secure jobs for himself and his brother at a rare earth mining camp in an autonomous region controlled by an influential ethnic armed group. Assigned to road construction, Min and his brother earned about 3,000 yuan (US$430) each per month. While this amount was significantly higher than what could be earned in many other jobs, the work involved considerable danger. They had to dig pits on steep slopes, and Min’s brother had very little experience driving heavy machinery. Weeks after arriving, Min’s brother died in a landslide. While Min’s account of the incident has not yet been independently verified, local media reports indicate that at least five fatal landslides have occurred at rare earth mining camps in Myanmar in recent years, with one incident burying and killing more than 10 workers. Unable to retrieve his brother’s body, Min’s family held a religious memorial service without it. Min also did not return home. “There are dangers, but I continue to work. I don’t have many other job options,” he said. (Editor’s note: Like other workers interviewed, Min is identified by a pseudonym for security reasons.) Min is part of a growing workforce enduring hazardous conditions and handling toxic chemicals to extract some of the world’s most in-demand raw materials. The 17 elements known as “rare earths,” used in the production of wind turbines and electric vehicles, are often described as essential materials in the fight against climate change. However, they are also used in advanced weaponry, increasing their geopolitical value. Rare earths are considered “critical minerals” by many countries, vital for both economic and security interests, yet vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. As competition intensifies for control of supply chains, rare earth mining has left a trail of destruction in producing nations. Myanmar, in particular, which supplies the majority of the world’s “heavy rare earths” – a highly sought-after category – now bears a disproportionate burden. Myanmar’s rare earth mining industry operates in secrecy, with no public disclosure of current permits or involved companies. Work sites are heavily guarded, and few journalists have been able to report from the ground in the past decade. However, reports have emerged of poisoned rivers, forests devoid of wildlife, and farmland so contaminated that farmers cannot sell their crops. In May, a Chinese rare earth mining company in eastern Myanmar’s Shan State was reported by a local human rights group to be using prisoners and trafficked individuals to “enslave” them. Both the military junta and the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an ethnic armed organization that has a ceasefire with the junta, were found to be involved. Businesses undertaking this extraction face little accountability in Myanmar. This is because the industry operates in a legal gray area. Chinese companies mine rare earths in autonomous military territories controlled by local ethnic armed groups, which then share in the profits and protect the mining operations. The extracted materials are then trucked across the border into China, where they are mixed with rare earths from other sources, legalized, and processed for use in global products. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) has ranked Myanmar’s war as the second-deadliest conflict globally, and with over 1,200 distinct armed groups, the world’s most fragmented. Bribery and weak rule of law have led to an explosion of illicit activities. According to the Global Organization of Transnational Crime, Myanmar ranks among the highest globally for organized crime. “Global demand and external influences like China play a major role in Myanmar’s rare earth mining,” said Thaw Htoo (pseudonym), a political ecologist from Myanmar who conducts research anonymously for security reasons. “The armed groups and the lack of law are a situation the international community turns a blind eye to.”