Myanmar's Conflict Fuels Ongoing Rare-Earth Mining for China

In 2024 the Kachin Independence Army seized Pangwa, the central point of Kachin state’s rare-earth industry, but this shift in control did not interrupt the flow of heavy rare earths that supply China-driven technology markets. Myanmar now provides roughly 16 % of worldwide rare-earth mining and possibly half of heavy-rare-earth production, much of it extracted in conflict-affected Kachin and Shan states and shipped across the border for Chinese refining.

The fragmented political landscape—comprising ethnic armed groups, militias, border officials and Chinese intermediaries—has allowed extraction to continue, financing both armed operations and local governance while exposing rivers such as the Kok to severe arsenic contamination and harming downstream communities in Thailand. Mining practices like in-situ leaching generate toxic runoff that reaches the Mekong, Irrawaddy and Salween basins, yet enforcement of environmental and labor standards remains minimal.

Chinese investors have begun shifting labor costs or relocating sites to other contested areas, but the overall output persists, underscoring a broader pattern where strategic mineral supply chains adapt to civil conflict rather than being halted by it. Analysts warn that this dynamic threatens the sustainability claims of green technologies built on resources sourced from war zones.