Extractive industries

Mandalay farmers have staged a sit-in for the past four days in protest of gold mines they claim have encroached on their land. The Wet Tae village residents are demanding the government suspend the mining activities until the conclusion of an investigation. They also called for ...

Indonesia’s Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on January 12 announced sweeping changes to mining regulations that allow exports of nickel ore and bauxite for another five years under certain conditions. The announcement illustrates the challenges facing the resource-rich country, which instituted a ban on mineral ore ...

A path has opened for environmental conservationists and rights advocates to strengthen their fight against gold mining and other socially and environmentally destructive projects in the rich forests of Karen State in eastern Myanmar: the Salween Peace Park. The 5,200-square-kilometer Peace Park is a radical ...

The new Myanmar Mining Law could soon have regulatory teeth that support the implementation of the law and establish a state and Union power division in the licensing process, The Myanmar Times has learned. The Mines Rules, which will essentially provide the fine print details ...

Residents are angry and worried that illegal sand mining along the Bến Hải River in Quảng Trị Province continues unabated despite local authorities’ efforts to stop the practice. Dozens of households on the banks of the river in Gio Linh District have not only lost ...

Jade scavengers who have allegedly overrun mines operated by private companies in Hkamti township have been ordered to move out by the government, with a combat police battalion standing by to enforce the ban. ​The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation gave the itinerant ...

According to statistics from the General Customs Department, as of December 15 Viet Nam had imported a total 13 million tonnes of coal worth US$860 million during the year, more than four times the targeted 3 million tonnes. Why did coal purchases increase so sharply? ...

Sharply decreasing Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) output and increasing prices of new gas resources are forcing Việt Nam to look to increase LNG imports. The country is expected to import five million tonnes of LNG by 2025. The figure is expected to increase to 11 ...

Alex Corporation, the firm behind a proposal for an ambitious Mondulkiri mining project, appears to be ultimately owned by ruling party Senator Lao Meng Khin and his wife, Choeung Sopheap, the Post has discovered, a scenario rights groups say should give cause for concern. The ...

A mysterious cluster of crude oil storage tanks recently constructed on the coast near Kampot are linked to a $400 million project by timber baron Try Pheap to build an industrial park and oil refinery, government officials confirmed on December 21. The five 2-million-litre tanks ...