Lahtaw Kai, a Myanmar environmental activist, describes the in-situ leaching mining technique used for rare earth minerals in Kachin State, which involves injecting chemicals into the earth. This method, while effective for extracting minerals, presents severe environmental hazards, including toxic chemical dumps that harm local ecosystems and communities. Workers face health risks without proper protection, often becoming ill and subsequently dismissed. Activists note the significant degradation of the landscape, with once-green mountains now compromised, rivers turning red from pollution, and local villagers living under constant threat from mining operations.
At hundreds of mining sites in the region, in-situ leaching is proving to be a huge risk to both the environment and local villagers.
Some of the chemicals they use in the mining pools, they just dump into the waters.
Workers get sick and then [the company] fires them and brings in new workers.
The mountains used to be green before mining started. Now those mountains are very ugly, the river turned red.
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