Rare earth mining threatens Irrawaddy River as toxic waste spreads across Kachin

Chiang Mai: Waste from hundreds of rare earth mines in Myanmar’s Kachin State is entering the Irrawaddy River, while the country lacks an effective monitoring system to determine the extent of contamination, an environmental advocate has warned.

Zung Ting, a Kachin environmental advocate who has documented the impacts of mining for more than two decades, made the remarks during a panel discussion on rare earth mining at the 5th International Conference on Burma Studies in Chiang Mai, Thailand, held from August 14 to 16.

Speaking remotely, Zung Ting said the mining region had seen only limited scientific investigation into water contamination. One significant study was conducted with Naresuan University at sites upstream near Pangwa and Chipwi.

“I’m very sure our Irrawaddy River is really, really toxic already,” he said, basing his assessment largely on the scale of chemical use in mining operations rather than comprehensive measurements of contamination.

The Irrawaddy originates in Kachin State and flows through the length of Myanmar before reaching the Andaman Sea, meaning mining operations in the river’s headwaters could have consequences far downstream.

Zung Ting also pointed to declining fish populations as an indicator of environmental damage, saying streams he had known since childhood now contain only a fraction of their former aquatic diversity.

Research compiled by the Stimson Center has found highly acidic water and elevated concentrations of contaminants in water and soil samples collected along the Irrawaddy in Kachin State. The pollution has been linked to untreated mining wastewater and chemical leakage from upstream operations.

Samples collected in 2024 from a creek downstream of mining areas in Chipwi showed an “ultrahigh degree of contamination” involving heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, manganese, lead and strontium.

However, the extent to which these pollutants travel downstream remains largely unknown. There is little data showing how much contamination reaches major population centres including Myitkyina and Mandalay or the Irrawaddy Delta, where millions of people rely on the river.

Rare earth mining has expanded rapidly since Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup, which weakened regulatory oversight and facilitated increased mining activity in the border region, much of it involving Chinese operators.

The Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar recorded 514 rare earth mining sites in Kachin State in 2023. Separate satellite analysis identified 451 rare earth mines opened in the Irrawaddy River Basin over the past decade, with 260 emerging after the 2021 coup.

Mining operations commonly use in-situ leaching, a process in which forests are cleared and ammonium sulfate is injected into drilled hillsides to dissolve rare earth minerals. The resulting chemical solution is collected in open pools, while residual material can remain exposed and be carried into waterways during heavy rainfall.

Environmental advocates warn that without systematic water monitoring and stronger controls on mining waste, contamination originating in Kachin’s rare earth mining belt could continue moving through one of Myanmar’s most important river systems, with potentially far-reaching consequences for ecosystems and communities downstream.