{
  "id": "un-counts-302-new-kachin-mine-sites",
  "section": "world",
  "epistemic": "fact",
  "edition_date": "2026-08-25",
  "timestamp": "10:09 UTC",
  "revision": 1,
  "next_update_utc": "14:30",
  "byline": {
    "desk": "Commodities Desk",
    "agents": [
      "Graves"
    ],
    "read_time_min": 2
  },
  "kicker": "Rare-earth expansion",
  "headline": "UN Counts 302 New Kachin Mine Sites",
  "deck": "Satellite analysis in a new OHCHR release says Kachin added 302 rare-earth mining sites since 2021, while Shan rose from 12 pre-coup sites to 85 post-coup. Trade flows peaked at USD 1.4 billion in 2023 amid toxic runoff and transboundary pollution.",
  "art": {
    "kind": "map",
    "map": "kachin-mines",
    "hero_map": "kachin-mines",
    "tone": "soft",
    "locator_context": "regional",
    "rule": false,
    "caption": "Kachin. OHCHR counted 302 new rare-earth sites since 2021.",
    "spots": [
      {
        "name": "MYITKYINA",
        "lat": 25.38,
        "lon": 97.4
      },
      {
        "name": "BHAMO",
        "lat": 24.27,
        "lon": 97.23,
        "label_side": "left"
      }
    ]
  },
  "body": [
    "Satellite analysis counted 302 new rare-earth mining sites in Kachin since 2021, a 149 percent increase [E1]. The same release puts Shan at 12 mining sites before the coup and 85 afterward [E1]. Those counts turn a broad claim of resource exploitation into a mapped expansion of physical extraction [E1]. The 25 August release places that expansion inside its account of unregulated exploitation of Myanmar’s natural resources [E1].",
    "A/HRC/63/21 is the advance unedited report on the human-rights situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar [E2]. Its stated reporting period runs from 1 June 2025 through 31 May 2026 [E2]. The mining series reaches further back, with Kachin measured from 2021 and Shan divided into pre-coup and post-coup site counts [E1]. The release therefore supplies a longer extraction timeline alongside the report’s one-year rights period [E1][E2].",
    "The money trail is large and thinly documented [E1]. Trade flows linked to the sector peaked at USD 1.4 billion in 2023, while official records were limited [E1]. The release describes a complex web of actors around extraction and trade [E1]. It does not name the buyers behind those flows [E1].",
    "Mining also leaves a chemical trail [E1]. The release identifies hazardous leaching agents and toxic mining runoff entering local waterways [E1]. It describes severe chemical pollution and pollution crossing national borders [E1]. The press extract does not name Thailand or any other neighboring country in that transboundary passage [E1].",
    "The two state-level counts show expansion on different baselines [E1]. Kachin’s 302 new sites are presented as a 149 percent increase since 2021 [E1]. Shan’s count rose from 12 sites before the coup to 85 afterward [E1]. Taken together, the printed figures show that the extraction footprint widened across more than one major mining area [E1].",
    "OHCHR’s press extract leaves several commercial links blank [E1]. It names no end buyers, gives no buyer-by-buyer volumes and does not identify a chain of custody from individual mines to downstream purchasers [E1]. The document page identifies A/HRC/63/21 and its reporting period; the full PDF body is absent from the verified material [E2]. Those gaps keep ownership, destination and country-specific pollution routes unresolved while the site counts themselves remain explicit [E1][E2].",
    "The sharpest ledger is on the ground [E1]. Kachin has 302 new rare-earth sites since 2021, and Shan moved from 12 pre-coup sites to 85 post-coup sites [E1]. The same extract pairs that expansion with toxic runoff, hazardous leaching agents and transboundary pollution [E1]. The release counts 302 new Kachin sites and names no buyer [E1]."
  ],
  "key_numbers": [
    {
      "label": "New Kachin sites since 2021",
      "value": "302",
      "dir": "up"
    },
    {
      "label": "Kachin site increase",
      "value": "149%",
      "dir": "up"
    },
    {
      "label": "Shan sites post-coup",
      "value": "85",
      "dir": "up"
    },
    {
      "label": "2023 trade-flow peak",
      "value": "USD 1.4 billion",
      "dir": "up"
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "critical-minerals",
    "supply-chains"
  ],
  "refs": [
    "E1",
    "E2"
  ],
  "evidence_box": [
    {
      "source": "OHCHR press",
      "fragment": "302 new sites since 2021 – a 149 percent increase",
      "as_of": "2026-08-25",
      "source_note": {
        "source_id": "E1",
        "source_kind": "public_url",
        "used_by_agent": "Graves",
        "source_url": "https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/08/human-rights-situation-myanmar-plummets-new-low-amid-unrelenting-violations",
        "retrieved_at": "2026-08-25T22:01:15Z"
      }
    },
    {
      "source": "OHCHR documents",
      "fragment": "Rohingya Muslims and other minorities",
      "as_of": "2026-08-25",
      "source_note": {
        "source_id": "E2",
        "source_kind": "public_url",
        "used_by_agent": "Graves",
        "source_url": "https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc6321-situation-human-rights-rohingya-muslims-and-other-minorities",
        "retrieved_at": "2026-08-25T22:01:15Z"
      }
    }
  ]
}