Burma and coal

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{{#badges: Climate change |CoalSwarm}} As of 2011, there is an estimated total coal reserve of more than 270 million tons in Burma, and 16 large scale coal deposits.[1][2] The Department of the Ministry of Energy states, on a web page that hasn't been updated since approximately 2000, that of the 16 major coal deposits, only the Kalewa coal mine and the Namma coal mine are currently operating.[3] However, other coal mines have been subsequently developed, such as the Tigyit coal mine.

Existing coal mines

In its 2009 review of mining in Burma, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported that 245,418 tonnes of coal were produced in 2009. The USGS listed Kalewa coal mine in Sagaing near Kalewa, with an annual production capacity of 13,000 tonnes, as the only major operating coal mine. The mine is owned and operated by Mining Enterprise No. 3 (ME-3).[4]

In February 2011, three major contracts were signed for the production of tens of thousands of tonnes of coal in Sagaing Region, starting in 2011. Two of the mines will be in Kalewa township, and one in Mawlaik township.[5]

In a 2011 report by the Pa’O Youth Organisation reported that ME-3 is a state entity under the Ministry of Mining which develops projects in conjunction with domestic and overseas corporations. "The Ministry of Mining reported that in 2011 state-owned enterprises will operate 2.81% of the country’s coal mines, joint venture operations will account for 43.87% and local private companies will operate 53.32%.4 These are spread throughout at least 82 coal mining blocks across the country," the report stated.[1]

The Pa’O Youth Organisation lists additional currently operating coal mines in Burma as being the:[1]

  • Dathwegyauk coal mine near Tamu in Sagain state is based on a deposit estimated to contain 33.9 million tonnes of sub-bituminous coal;
  • Lweje coal mine near Moemauk in Kachin state is operated by ME-3, Ayeyarwaddy Myitpyar and the Bamboo Result Co. Ltd.;
  • Tigyit coal mine near Pinlaung in Shan state is based on a 20 million tonnes lignite deposit and is operated by Shan Yoma Nagar, Eden Group and Shwe Than Lwin;
  • Sam Laung coal mine near Tibaw in Shan state is based on a 1 million tonnes lignite deposit. The mine is operated by AAA Internationl;
  • Maw Taung coal mine near Taninthayi in Taninthayi state is based on a 3.6 million deposit of sub-bituminous coal. The mine is operated by Saraburi and MEC.

Tigyit coal mine

The Tigyit coal mine produces about 2,000 tons of coal daily. The China National Heavy Machinery Corporation initiated the Tigyit project in 2002, about 16 miles from Inle Lake, in partnership with the Burmese companies Eden Group and Shan Yoma Nagar Company. When the project was started, 24 houses in Taung Po La and Likah villages were forcibly relocated by companies and local authorities. A 2011 report by the Pa-O Youth Organisation states that coal production from the mine has produced at least 100 tons of coal ash and coal waste, which is disposed of in a nearby coal-fired thermal power plant. The water flows into the second largest lake in Burma, Inle Lake, an Asean national heritage site. There are about 25 villages within a 5-mile radius of the project, which are home to about 11,592 people. The 2011 report found that the mine has created air and water pollution which has caused about 2,000 nearby residents to report skin diseases.[6]

An article in the Democratic Voice of Burma stated that the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation Company (CHMC) is the main economic thrust behind Burma’s largest open-pit coal mine and coal-fired power plant in Tigyit, and that the 2000 tonnes of lignite coal mined each day is shipped to a nearby cement factory for use in dam construction.[7]

Maw Taung coal mine

Saraburi Coal Mining is a subsidiary of Ital-Thai that received a 30 year concession by Burmese authorities to export coal from the Shan State East’s Mongkok subtownship - Monghsat township - 70km north of Thailand’s Chiangrai border. Saraburi's work on the construction of the project is reportedly destroying paddy fields, farms and lands of local villagers, including areas that were not designated, according to local reports in 2011. Farmers say the coal company paid them Baht 20,000 ($ 666.6) per acre rate for compensation, a sum some said was too low to relocate their lives.[8]

The coal mining project has also been protested by people in Shan State and Thailand since 2009, who are concerned that the coal shipments could destroy and affect local village life along the proposed route, endangering the environment and their security. The plan would ship coal from the mine through conflict zones inside Shan State, then through northern Thailand, to the city of Saraburi in central Thailand, where it will be used as fuel in cement factories. Saraburi was asked by the Burma Army to construct a new route across the border in exchange for the coal concession, despite the existence of a shorter 100 km route inside Burma’s Tachilek to Thailand’s Maesai. The road is proposed to be built across Maejok on the Burmese side of the border to Thailand’s Hmong Kaolang village, and will be around 60 km inside Burma and at least 90 km inside Thailand, until it connects with the national highway at Pasang, between Maesai and Chiangrai.[8]

Coal-fired power stations

Existing coal-fired power stations

The Tigyit power plant is the only operating coal-fired power station in Burma. the Pa’O Youth Organisation report that "in September 2001 the regime’s Vice-Senior General Maung Aye arrived and chose the place for the power plant, instructing local military to confi scate over 100 acres of local farm lands. No compensation was provided. The CHMC of China and Eden Group of Myanmar built the plant under the supervision of the Energy Ministry. Construction began in September 2002 and was completed in April 2005."[9]

The group reported in early 2011 that plant has two 60 megawatt generating units and "produces 600 gigawatt hours (Gwh) electricity annually, using 640,000 tons of coal per year from the Tigyit coal mine just one and a half miles away. The electricity is transmitted to a substation in Kalaw. According to Mizzima News, 65 MW of the electricity is slated for transmission to the Pinpet iron factory ... The plant also exports electricity to the nearby Nagar cement plant."[9]

Proposed coal-fired power stations

A 2011 report by the Pa’O Youth Organisation reported that proposed coal-fired power stations include the:[1]

  • Kalewa power station, a proposed 600 megawatt power station is under construction by China Guodian Corporation and Tun Thwin Mining Co., Ltd. The power is proposed to be sold to the Monywa copper project which is operated by Chinese weapons manufacturer Norinco. The output from the Monywa mine will go to China, with a statement in 2009 on the Norinco website saying that the deal would “enhance the influence of our country in Myanmar [Burma]”. The article also noted that a similar agreement will also allow China’s Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Company, the largest steel manufacturer in the world, to mine the Sagaing division for nickel.[7]
  • Mai Khot power station, which is also referred to as Mong Kok, is a proposed 369 megawatt power station which has been proposed to be operated by the Thia company, Italian-Thai Development Plc. It is proposed that the power be exported to the Chiang Rai region of northern Thailand;
  • Htantabin power station, is a proposed 200 megawatt proposed 270 MW power station. The proposed operators are the Huaneng Lancangjiang Hydropower Co., Ltd of China and Htoo Trading Co., Ltd. of Burma. It is proposed that the power be supplied to factories in three industrial zones of Rangoon;
  • Dawei power station is a 4,000-6,000 megawatt power station which has been proposed to be operated by the Thia company, Italian-Thai Development Plc. It has been reported that firms from China, Korea and Japan are also interested. The output from the power station is notionally slated for a major industrial estate that includes a steel mill and petrochemical facilities. (Following the 1989 military coup the city's name was changed from Tavoy to Dawei. Company and government reports on the power station proposal only refer to Dawei while international media and groups refer either to Tavoy or Dawei (Tavoy).)
  • Rangoon Division power station, a proposed 1080 megawatt power station. The Pa’O Youth Organisation report states that "plans to develop these plants yet how the power will be used has not been disclosed."
  • Kawthoung power station is a proposed 6 megawatt power station. The Pa’O Youth Organisation report states that "no details available, yet the Thai company Saraburi Coal mines the nearby Maw Taung coal deposit."

Citzens groups campaigning on coal mining

Articles and Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pa’O Youth Organisation, Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma’s largest coal project at Tigyit, Pa’O Youth Organisation, January 2011. (Pdf)
  2. ↑ Kyaw Kha, "2,000 people report skin diseases from Tigyit coal mine" Mizima, Jan. 21, 2011.
  3. ↑ Department of the Ministry of Energy, "coal Sub-sector", Department of the Ministry of Energy website, accessed April 2011.
  4. ↑ Yolanda Fong-Sam, The Mineral Industry of Burma: 2009, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, April 2011. (Pdf)
  5. ↑ Juliet Shwe Gaung, "Sagaing coal deals inked" Myanmar Times, Jan. 31, 2011.
  6. ↑ Kyaw Kha, "2,000 people report skin diseases from Tigyit coal mine" Mizima, Jan. 21, 2011.
  7. ↑ Jump up to: 7.0 7.1 Francis Wade, "Shouldering China’s toxic burden" Democratic Voice of Burma, March 23, 2011.
  8. ↑ Jump up to: 8.0 8.1 Hseng Khio Fah, "Thai coal mining in Burma begins despite of local concerns" Shan Herald, May 4, 2011.
  9. ↑ Jump up to: 9.0 9.1 Pa’O Youth Organisation, Poison Clouds: Lessons from Burma’s largest coal project at Tigyit, Pa’O Youth Organisation, January 2011, page 24. (Pdf)

External resources

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