Laos Says Chinese Company Can Explore Rare Earths

Laos government officials have given permission to a Chinese company to mine rare earths on farms and grazing land in the country's northeastern provinces, however, compensation for displaced villagers has yet to be resolved, Lao sources say.

An agreement signed by the Lao Ministry of Planning and Development on Jan. 21 allows Tong Lee Seung Industrial Development to explore 3 square kilometers of land in the Phaxay district of Xieng Khouang province. An additional 25 square kilometers of land in the area can now be explored, the agreement said. Most of the land mined under the plan is already being used for farming and grazing, the sources say.

"We don't know yet what will be done to the villagers' land," a Lao official told Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Jan. 24, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the project. "This Chinese company is still conducting surveys and has not yet started mining work."

However, another Lao official told Radio Free Asia that company representatives are now negotiating compensation for villagers who will lose valuable land to the project, but the number of families affected remains unclear. He said, "They are still negotiating with local villagers, who will sign a separate contract to carry out the rare earths mining after the survey is completed."

One affected villager said, "The Chinese company's project has now encroached on 6 hectares of his grazing land. I don't know if I will be compensated, but this project will negatively affect more local families in the future, especially those who make their living by raising cattle."

Another villager agreed that while some villagers will now lose their farmland to the project, those most affected will lose their grazing land. We don't know what minerals they are going to dig, and we don't know who to talk to about compensation.

An official from the Lao Ministry of Mines told RFA that the ministry will soon draft a new decree to control the digging of rare earth mines in Laos in order to protect villagers from the negative effects of the project.

"The decree will be introduced this year after we finish drafting it," he said, "we are still waiting for a government meeting on the issue, after which the process will be initiated. Rare earths are important for the production of high-end technologies such as cell phones, computers, satellites, and space technology, and much of the international trade in these minerals is controlled by China."

Laos also signed agreements with 19 companies last year to explore gold, silver and other minerals in the country's provinces, according to government sources. China is Lao largest foreign investor and aid provider and its second-largest trading partner after Thailand. Reported by RFA.

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