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The global demand for rare earth minerals is starting to overwhelm Southeast Asia’s largest river system, with an increase in illegal mining sites tallying with reports of mutated fish in the Mekong River.
The Mekong Basin, located in Southeast Asia, is the region’s longest river system. While the river itself is 4,900km, the basin spans a whopping 795,000 across six countries: China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
This massive river basin sustains over 70 million people where 20% of the world’s freshwater catch originates from vast waterways that allow the generation of 100,000MV of hydropower potential. Most importantly, the Mekong is home to 1,200 fish species, making it one of the most biodiverse rivers in the world.
Yet, that’s not all the basin is known for, with its soil holding rich deposits of rare earth minerals, with China demanding the most out of them. Unfortunately, the Stimson Center, a think tank for global peace, reported a disturbing rise in illegal mining sites, threatening the Mekong’s ecosystem and the livelihoods of the 70 million people who rely on it.
Global demand for rare earth minerals
Rare earth minerals aren’t exactly ‘rare’ in usage today. In fact, they underpin our electronics and clean energy industries. The technicalities of their use are Byzantine, but in brief these minerals are mainly popular for their magnetic properties which power electric vehicle (EV) motors, wind turbines and even our smartphones.
With increasing dependence on advanced technology, especially the clean kind, the market is projected to grow in billions by 2030 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4BIwTaZqlQ&pp=ygUQdGhlIG1la29uZyByaXZlcg%3D%3D
So, what does China have to do with the Mekong’s repository and demand? The Eastern nation happens to have the most demand for rare earth minerals globally, consuming over 60% of total production.
This is on account of its massive manufacturing base of electronics, EVs, and renewable energy technologies. As China’s demand for these minerals grow, it naturally turns to the Mekong, extracting rare earth sources at any cost, including through illegal mining.
An increase in unregulated mining sites
Circling back to the Stimson Center’s report, the think tank released satellite-based mapping that revealed over 2,400 unregulated mining sites across Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. In fact, Myanmar alone accounted for 80% of the total identified illegal and unregulated sites with 1,885 mines.
On the other hand, Laos had 517 unregulated sites with Camobodia having fewer trails. These sites mainly utilize environmentally negligent mining methods such as in-situ leaching, heap leach mining, and alluvial mining.
In-situ leaching requires the injection of sulfuric acid or ammonium sulfate into hillsides to dissolve the target minerals. The slurry is then collected in unlined ponds that leak toxins into the soil. Conversely, heap leaching necessitates chemical sprays, while alluvial mining used dredging.
With these methods heavily reliant on toxic chemicals, it allows pollutants to easily escape into the surrounding soil and waterways, especially when the containment systems are not lined up properly, posing high risks of groundwater contamination.
