Extractive industries
Extractive industries policy and administration
Illegal gold mines operate unchecked in Myanmar’s Kachin state since coup
Illegal gold mine operations have run unchecked in the capital of Myanmar’s Kachin state since the military seized power 10 months ago, raising concerns for villagers who spent years protesting a massive Chinese-backed dam project in the early 2000s. Local sources along the Irrawaddy River in ...
Reported by Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Deadly Myanmar mine disaster caused by poor planning, say data sleuths
A detailed analysis of satellite and remote-sensing data has uncovered poor conditions at the Wai Khar jade mine in northern Myanmar, where a landslide last July killed more than 170 people. The international team of authors behind the study1 — the first to rigorously document a mining accident ...
Andrew Silver
Roving bandits and looted coastlines: How the global appetite for sand is fuelling a crisis
Next to water, sand is our most consumed natural resource. The global demand for sand and gravel stands between 40 billion and 50 billion tonnes annually, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and its scarcity is an emerging global crisis. The world may run out of sand if we ...
Melissa Marschke, Jean-François Rousseau, Laura Schoenberger and Michael Hoffmann
Cambodia considers licensing mining at four coal sites
The Cambodian Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to review applications soon for rights to four coal mining concession areas it opened late in March in the northern region of the country, the Phnom Penh Post reported. The ministry said in a press release that interested national ...
Ministry to give mining rights for four coal sites
The Ministry of Mines and Energy is set to review applications soon for rights to four coal mining concession areas – totalling 794sq km – it opened late in March in the Kingdom’s north. “Interested national and international companies can apply for a mining licence at ...
Thou Vireak
The great salt drought desiccating Vietnam's Mekong Delta
“Well I can tell you, all my fish are dead now.” Nguyen Thi Bach Vien sounds more resigned than anything else. She is calling from her home in Ben Tre province, a few hours drive south of Ho Chi Minh City in the belly of Vietnam’s ...
Zoe Osborne
Houses On The River Will Fall': Cambodia's Sand Mining Threatens Vital Mekong
Some 60 million people rely on Southeast Asia’s Mekong River for their sustenance. But the Mekong is under threat. While China is building dams that sharply reduce the water flow and sediment downstream, other countries along the river share some of the blame. Cambodia, for instance, is experiencing a ...
Michael Sullivan
Massive base metals mine in Myanmar to start production in 2021
Australia-based Myanmar Metals (ASX: MYL) said Monday that its 51%-owned Bawdwin polymetallic project in Myanmar could kick off production as early as 2021, based on a prefeasibility study into a starter pit. Bawdwin, which in a first phase of operations would be running for 13 years, will be ...
Cecilia Jamasmie
Myanmar to receive revenues from China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline
Myanmar will gain financially from the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline, which began operations in early April after the two countries signed an agreement for the transport of crude oil, said officials. The crude oil transport agreement was signed on April 10 in Beijing during president U ...
Singapore’s MOSB to become first foreign oil and gas supply base in Myanmar
Myanmar Offshore Supply Base (MOSB), a Singapore company, on July 11 received the green light from the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) to construct an oil and gas supply base in Mon State. It will be the first foreign-run oil and gas supply base in Myanmar. ...
