Myanmar's Rare Earth Boom Is Poisoning Kachin's Rivers
Since the 2021 coup, unregulated mining has turned northern Myanmar into China's off-books rare earth supplier. The bill is being paid in water.
The Cost of a Magnet
Every wind turbine, every EV motor, every guided munition needs dysprosium and terbium. A rising share of the world's supply now flows out of one place: Kachin State, Myanmar.
The trade
Post-coup, Chinese buyers accelerated purchases from militia-controlled mines in Pangwa and Chipwi. Satellite imagery shows leach pond expansion of over 40% between 2021 and 2024.
The chemistry
In-situ leaching uses ammonium sulfate at industrial scale. When containment fails — and in Kachin it routinely does — the runoff sterilizes downstream rivers for a generation.
The market
The refined ore crosses into Yunnan, is re-processed, and enters global supply chains with no meaningful provenance check. EU battery-passport rules do not currently cover magnets.
The energy transition needs these metals. It does not need to source them like this.
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