The first known Russian mining project in eastern Shan State is preparing to excavate tungsten—vying with a Chinese operation nearby, the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) said Thursday.
The SHRF said the Russian project had been given a green light to operate from the Myanmar military and was located to the north of Loi Khi Lek mountain, the highest peak in eastern Shan’s Mongton Township, 20 km from the Thai border.
South of the mountain, in Mong Jawd Village-tract, lies a large Chinese project, which began operations in February, producing tungsten and transporting it to China in cooperation with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), according to the SHRF.
Mong Jawd is jointly controlled by the UWSA and the Myanmar military.
The SHRF said local villagers first became aware of the Russian project in May 2025, when a Russian mineral survey team arrived, accompanied by regime soldiers, police and local militia. During a second visit in January this year, the team measured land and some villagers were told the operation had already been granted an extraction permit by authorities in Naypyitaw.
Later, a UWSA administrator encouraged the villagers to protest against the Russian tungsten mining project, the SHRF stated in the report.
While the new project marks the first Russian foray into mining in eastern Shan, the country has also been involved in iron mining in the south of the state, the report stated. Russian miners have worked with regime military-owned Myanmar Economic Cooperation, establishing a steel plant in Hopong Township. The project has faced opposition from locals but remains operationalized, it said.
The large new Chinese tungsten mine in Mong Jawd started production in February. There are about 100 Chinese mining company staff—mostly managers and technicians—and about 250 Myanmar mine workers at the site, according to the report.
The SHRF stated that in 2025, nearby villagers suffered skin infections caused by contact with water in the Pak Goot stream, which has been contaminated by mining waste. Additionally, their rice fields have been ruined by sandy sediment, and the damming of the stream to supply water to the mine had caused the water that villagers relied on for household and agricultural needs to dry up.
Extractive industries in eastern Shan, especially rare-earth minerals and gold mining, have been dominated by Chinese companies in cooperation with China-friendly armed groups such as the UWSA and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.
The SHRF earlier reported that rare earth and gold mining projects have been rapidly expanding along the Thai-Myanmar border, with tremendous social and environmental impacts on local communities on both sides.
Observers said the Myanmar military-backed arrival of a Russian company in a region controlled by the China-backed UWSA would trigger tensions.
“The UWSA has dominated the resource-extraction industry in that area for decades with technical and financial support from China,” Sai Mueng, editor-in-chief of the Shan Herald Agency for News, told The Irrawaddy.
“The UWSA would be very disappointed with the Myanmar military and [regime-aligned] militia for crossing into their area with a Russian company.”
He said he believed it was a deliberate move by the Myanmar regime to balance its dependence on China and Russia.
In recent years, the Myanmar generals have expanded their relations with the Kremlin from arms purchases and military training to trade and investment cooperation.
Accompanied by crony businessmen, coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing has visited Russia several times since he seized power in a 2021 coup. As a result, the regime and Moscow have reached economic cooperation agreements in several sectors including trade, banking, mining and information technology.
Regime Vice-President Nyo Saw attended the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 4 and held separate talks with Russian investors and officials on trade and investment.
While still far behind trade with China, the value of Myanmar’s bilateral trade with Russia more than doubled from US$34.45 million in fiscal year 2020-21 to $74.73 million in FY2023-24.
