Mining
Industrial mining
Shifting sands: illegal VN sales to Singapore
Quite a few Vietnamese companies are taking advantage of sand dredging privileges authorised by the Government to rake in huge illegal profits, according to an expose by the Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper. The investigative series, entitled “Tracing Vietnamese sand drain to Singapore”, reported that at ...
Official shares locals’ concerns of dredging
The appearance of an excavator, machine parts and metal structures on islands in the Tatai River in Koh Kong province has aroused suspicions among local conservationists that a company intends to launch a sand-dredging operation in the Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary – a suspicion shared by ...
Thai mine ‘destroyed Myanmar water sources’
People in Heinda district in Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region have been deprived of clean water, amid claims that a tin mine operated by a Thai firm has contaminated the river and water sources with heavy metals. Looking out from the local temple, Myaung Pyo seems like ...
Sihanoukville dredging eyed
Ministry of Environment officials on February 22 said an inspection team will be deployed to investigate the recently halted sand-dredging operation for the development of the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port’s new multipurpose terminal, which has affected local families. Danh Serey, director of the ministry’s environmental impact assessment ...
Local protesters block road to Letpadaung copper mine
The Sagaing Division chief minister will likely visit the controversial Letpadaung copper mine later this week after protesters prevented vehicles from leaving the compound on February 21 and demanded the mine cease operations. “We blocked five trucks carrying copper from leaving the mine,” U Pho La ...
Residents block trucks at Loei mine
People in Loei have urged government agencies to inspect the Tungkum gold mine amid reports of illegal mining, producing many tonnes of ore being despite the mine’s permission to use local forestland having expired. The Rak Ban Kerd (Love Our Hometown) community group has blocked the ...
No more coal mining licences due to harmful health effects, says union minister
The government will stop issuing new coal mining licences due to the substance’s harmful effects on health, said U Ohn Win, Union Minister for Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation. He also said factories which violate regulations in the burning of coal will be shut down. ...
Nine killed in Kachin jade mine landslide
A landslide in northern Myanmar’s jade mining region has killed 9 people, a local official said on February 11, the latest fatal incident to strike the shadowy billion-dollar industry. The men were believed to be searching for jade in Kachin State when a wall of unstable ...
Slag heaps from mining operations concern Kachin residents
Kachin people have complained that mining companies are dumping waste soil recklessly and that it could trigger natural disasters. “We’ve found some companies dumped slag near tributaries of the Uru River. The waste soil could block the river during the rainy season,” said a resident of ...
Nickel market roiled by supply outlooks in Indonesia, Philippines
The nickel market has been undergoing wild swings this year, pummeled by Indonesia’s move to relax an export ban but later buoyed by expectations of a supply decrease from the Philippines. The Philippines said last Thursday that it will close mines responsible for roughly half of the ...