Extractive Industries in Burma: Mining in Comparative Context

ERI’s first report to address mining, Capitalizing on Conflict (2003), revealed that a significant percentage of the economic activity connected to this industry is never officially reported. Additionally, the royalties, taxes, protection fees, and other forms of rent creation connected with mines contribute not only to private wealth creation, but lead to earth rights abuses in many parts of Burma as well.⁶ Why, given this situation, does most of the attention continue to be focused on logging and energy companies? A brief comparison is revealing.

Logging concessions cover large tracts of land; they also require a substantial amount of capital and considerable equipment to transport timber to locations where value-added processing can occur. Energy projects, such as hydroelectric dams and natural gas pipelines, are even larger and typically require substantial international loans and other forms of technical assistance to complete. The sheer size and the involvement of international companies and financial institutions in such energy projects make it somewhat easier to gather information. Additionally, most major logging concessions and energy development projects are either located in or traverse border regions, which makes fact-finding research, while still difficult, more feasible.

By contrast, most mines are generally small, located in very remote areas, and do not require technologically sophisticated equipment—although this is rapidly changing in many areas of Burma. Further, mining companies have a reputation for secrecy. This reputation is deserved. Most mining companies are still privately owned, so obtaining information about their shareholders and their activities in the field is extremely challenging. This is especially true in Burma where obtaining reliable figures on business activities is notoriously difficult, and most of the data that does exist around this particular industry is restricted to superficial information regarding foreign companies.⁷ Additionally, almost nothing is accurately known about the hundreds of official and unofficial mining concessions that the Ministry of Mines in Burma has granted since 1989 to local and Chinese companies, many of which are owned or maintain close ties with armed groups throughout the country. But there is at least one additional reason. Much of the mining that occurs in Burma defies easy categorization.