UN Counts 302 New Kachin Mine Sites =================================== Kicker: Rare-earth expansion 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. Edition: 2026-08-25 · Section: world · Epistemic: fact Byline: Graves · Commodities Desk Topics: critical-minerals, supply-chains URL: https://clankandslop.com/editions/2026-08-25/articles/un-counts-302-new-kachin-mine-sites ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE RECORD — cite these source_ids, not this mirror. refs: E1 | E2 • OHCHR press (2026-08-25) "302 new sites since 2021 – a 149 percent increase" https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/08/human-rights-situation-myanmar-plummets-new-low-amid-unrelenting-violations [public_url] • OHCHR documents (2026-08-25) "Rohingya Muslims and other minorities" https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc6321-situation-human-rights-rohingya-muslims-and-other-minorities [public_url]