Mining Technology

Daily Newsletter

07 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

Myanmar’s Wa State closes all tin mines in scheduled halt

From 1 August, all mining, refining, transport and export in the country has been halted indefinitely.

Wa State, the autonomous region within Myanmar that is among the world’s greatest producers of tin, has proceeded with the total suspension of all mining activities within the country.

In May, the region’s government announced that from August it would indefinitely suspend all mining operations in order to protect the environment, preserve tin reserves for the future and formalise mining within the state. As much as 10% of the world’s tin comes from Wa State, which also accounts for 95% of all Myanmar’s production.

From the beginning of the shutdown on 1 August, all mines and processing plants were closed, with workers dismissed and ore transport vehicles halted. Regular inspections will be carried out in order to ensure that mines remain closed.

The International Tin Association (ITA) reported that the state has approximately two million tonnes (t) of raw ore stocks present, containing 5,000–6,000t of tin concentrate. However, as the shutdown also meant the closure of processing plants, the sale of this ore has also been halted. On top of this, a further 1,500t of tin ore is awaiting approval to be exported from the port of Meng’a.

The ITA stated: “The market’s previous expectations of one to three months for the suspension now seem overly optimistic, as the Wa State Government is clearly committed to policy enforcement. An expectation that processing of stockpiles could still go ahead appears to have been quashed by the ban on ore transport. Reopening of mines may also now take longer.”

China will be worst affected by the mine closures, as it currently draws a majority of its 40,000t-per-year tin imports from Wa State. As its raw material supply will dwindle, it will have to source goods from locations potentially less politically close and more expensive, or risk a decrease in production.

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.