China has since established itself as a global leader in both mining and refining rare earth minerals. These minerals are essential to modern technology. The Bayan Obo mine in Inner Mongolia has become the epicenter for this very lucrative industry. The Ganzhou mining center in Jiangxi province is an important cog. In the overzealous pursuit of fortune, we have paid an exorbitant environmental cost. This has led to an outpouring of local residents’ and environmentalists’ concerns.
The Bayan Obo mine, the world’s largest rare earths-producer, occupies a desert, wind-blown prairie expanse in Inner Mongolia. It’s roughly a nine-hour drive from Beijing. This site produces around 60 percent of the world’s rare earth mineral supply. On the other end of the spectrum lies Ganzhou, where toxic waste ponds and dilapidated structures have come to represent the true cost of this booming industry. It takes 200,000 times more toxic waste to mine one tonne of rare earth minerals. This immense waste production has resulted in significant environmental harms.
China’s expansionist and extreme practices to rare earth mining has made international headlines as well as national ones in China. Unfortunately, the country’s “develop first and clean up later” approach has resulted in widespread environmental destruction. As geographer and professor Julie Klinger, author of Rare Earth Frontiers, observes, this presents a stunning irony. No longer can a nation claim to seek economic progress while sacrificing the health and safety of its people.
Local farmers such as Huang Xiaocong show their frustrations in reaction to the effects of damaging mining practices on their way of life. Satellite imagery reveals at least four competing rare earths mining operations surrounding his land. He thinks these operations are creating active landslides. He states:
“The authorities’ tolerance and inaction towards what is happening… is, in my opinion, the main reason these landslides keep happening.” – Huang Xiaocong
Huang’s view captures the burden of navigating the line between economic opportunity and environmental responsibility that so many communities impacted by rare earth mining must walk. Despite the financial incentives presented by the mines, many locals feel vulnerable to the consequences of this industry.
In Bayan Obo, some farmers have discovered a new wealth in mining. “With the rare earths, there’s money now,” notes one farmer, who revealed that mine jobs pay between 5,000 to 6,000 yuan ($837, £615) per month. This financial windfall doesn’t undo a legacy of worries about the long-term health impacts of mining operations. Residents have documented the effects on them including bone and joint deformities and acute arsenic toxicity from contact with hazardous waste.
Toxic waste from rare earth operations are piling up in small, circular concrete ponds. These ponds are often placed on very steep hills, leading to an increasing environmental disaster. Too often, these ponds are left open and exposed to the elements, provoking concerns about soil and water contamination.
As a first step to address increasing public outcry, China’s central government has cut the number of mining licenses granted in half since 2012. For local farmers such as Huang Xiaocong, though, this is too little too late. It is heartbreaking to read his helplessness in the face of a challenge he feels is just too big to be fought.
“This problem is way too big for me to solve. It’s something that has to be dealt with at the higher levels of government.” – Huang Xiaocong
As Huang passionately expresses his concern for his community’s destiny. He feels that everyday folks, just like him, don’t have the knowledge, power or clout required to affect any real change. “We ordinary people don’t have the answers… Farmers like us, we’re the vulnerable ones. To put it simply, we were born at a disadvantage. It’s pretty tragic,” he adds.
China is now smarting at losing its stranglehold on the global rare earth mineral market. This dominance threatens to upend the balance between fostering economic growth and protecting our environment. Indigenous local communities should not have to fight and endure this kind of environmental destruction just to live. This injury threatens their lives and livelihoods.