Natural Resource Awareness Series-RE Info Myanmar Working Group,

Only attendees 01/2023

12-13. November, 2023

Natural Resource
Management
Poisoned Mountains vs. Vitamins of the modern world: Rare-earth elements in Myanmar
Only attendees Natural Resource Awareness Series 01/2023

Argenda

Overview Trend analysis Market trends

Problems to solve Process Vision

Brief history Scientific evidence Appendix

Locations Profiters
Overview
● Myanmar is the world’s third-biggest miner of tin and in 2020 accounted for more than 95% of China’s
imports of tin concentrate
● Myanmar was the world’s 18th-biggest copper producer in 2019
● While China is the world’s dominant producer of rare earths, it relied on Myanmar for about half its heavy
rare earth concentrates in 2020.
● Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREEs) such as dysprosium and terbium
● Permanent magnets in Electric Vehicle (EV), Wind Turbines to hard drives and cellphones

as “basically
irreplaceable”

(an industry
expert)
● Myanmar accounted
for 39% of global
HREE mine production
● China itself the only
other major producer
of HREE mined
products at 48% of
global supply.
 In my opinion,
the mountains
will definitely
Problems to solve collapse one
day!
1 Environmental issues
3
Ecological System
N’Mai Kha River-(May Kha River)
Water, Soil
Mountain leaching
Contamination, Food
Chain

2 4

Health-related issues:
Local ecosystems
Osteoporosis,
Livelihoods
respiratory and
Tribes extinct
gastrointestinal and
eyes near mining sites
 Brief History
● Environmental Suffering, China closed many rare earth
mines in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province since 2016
● Turned to Myanmar with rich Dysprosium and Terbium
● Chinese Investors and miners rolled in with
● Local/border Chinese and Chronies inside the country
Locations

Near Pangwa

Chipwi Township (ချ ီေဖွ မိ ု့နယ်; Chibwe Township)

Kachin State
 Size of
Singapore Over 2,700 mining collection
sites over 300 separate
locations by March, 2022

Trend Analysis

In 2016

https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/natural-resource-governance/myanmars-poisoned-mountains/
Process

Fig. Credit: A schematic sketch of the in situ leaching mining process.

https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/natural-resource-governance/myanmars-poisoned-mountains/
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/natural-resource-governance/myanmars-poisoned-mountains/
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/natural-resource-governance/myanmars-poisoned-mountains/
Export journey (2014 to 2021)
 Scientific Evidence

● Laboratory study the erosion effect of the

leaching solution on the physical and mechanical
parameters of the basement rock of ion-adsorbed
rare earth deposits.
● For this purpose, some granite specimens were
collected from an ion-adsorbed rare earth
mine located in southern Jiangxi area in
China.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674775521001839#fig2
 The fracture surface of
the rock specimen
without soaking
treatment

Microcrack
to
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674775521001839#fig2

whole mountain collapse

30 days: Rougher in fracture surface, invisible micro

90 days
cracks
soaking
60 days: Large numbers of convex and concave pores

90 days: unconsolidated microstructure ad form

secondary microcracks

120 days soaking

Profiters
Losers
Market Trends

Forecast by research firm Adamas Intelligence estimates that demand

for rare earth minerals used in magnets is set to triple by 2035
Vision:
Blowing in the wind?
 Automic Number Symbol Name Specification Applications
21 Sc Scandium Aluminium-scandium alloys Aerospace components
39 Y Yttrium Yttrium Aluminium garnet (YAG) Laser Tooth crowns, Jet engine
Industrial gas turbines

Appendix Fuel cell, Energy-efficient light bulbs, CFL

YVO4, YBCO, YSZ

Spark plug, cancer treatment

57 La Lanthanum Hydrogen Storage
Battery electrode
Telescopic lens
fluid catalytic cracking catalyst Oil refineries
58 Ce Cerium Chemical Oxidizing Agent Oil refineries
Turbine blades
Preseodymi
59 Pr um Carbon Arc Lighting Magnets, Laser
Glass and enamels
Fiber Optical Amplifiers
60 Nd Neodymium Magnets, Laser
Electric Motors
Electric Automobiles
 Atomic Number Symbol Name Specification Applications
61 Pm Promethium Nuclear Batteries
Luminous Paint
62 Sm Samarium Rear-earth magnets
Control Rods Nuclear reactors

Appendix
63 Eu Europium Red and blue phosphors Fluorescent Lamps
64 Gd Gadolinium MRI Contrast Agent
High-temperature Superconductors Fuel Cells
65 Tb Terbium Neodymium based magnets Lasers
Magnetostrictive Alloys Naval Solar Systems
Stabilizer Fuel Cells
66 Dy Dysprosium Neodymium based magnets Hard Disk Drives
67 Ho Holmium Lasers, Magnets
68 Er Erbium Infrared Lasers Fiber-optic Technology
Vanadium Stell

69 Tm Thulium Portable X-ray machines

Lasers
70 Yb Ytterbium Nuclear Medicines
Earthquake Monitoring
71 Lu Lutetium Tomography PET Scan
 Thank you
Reference & Further Reads

● Effect of the in situ leaching solution of ion-absorbed rare earth on the mechanical behavior of basement rock
● https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/natural-resource-governance/myanmars-poisoned-mountains/
● https://www.asiafinancial.com/china-rare-earth-miners-poisoning-northern-myanmar-report