Five provinces under investigation for illegal trading of rare earth minerals

The Đồng Pao rare earth mine in Tam Đường, Lai Châu — Photo courtesy of Tam Đường District.

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) proposes that the provinces of Yên Bái, Lai Châu, Phú Thọ, Thanh Hóa, and Lào Cai investigate and verify the situation of illegal exploitation and trading of large quantities of rare earth minerals.

According to Trần Quý Kiên, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, the media has reported that some individuals have organised illegal exploitation, mining, extraction, and trading of rare earth minerals in the area of Bản Hon commune, Tam Đường district, Lai Châu, as well as the area of Tân Hương commune, Yên Bình district, Yên Bái, involving a large volume of ore.

The illegal mineral exploitation activities were reported to have originated from unauthorised excavation and land clearance with individuals acting as guarantors.

"These are complex activities with a large value of mineral reserves. Therefore, MONRE requests the provinces to promptly direct relevant forces to investigate and verify the information and strictly handle violations according to the law," Kiên proposed.

At the same time, the Lào Cai People's Committee will review, inspect, and handle violations related to the exploitation, mining, and consumption of rare earth ores, and further strengthen the supervision and protection of untapped mineral resources in the area.

The five mentioned localities are required to submit the results of their inspections and reviews to MONRE before July 29.

Rare earth elements have long been considered key modern industries as they are essential components in the production of various devices in IT, healthcare, transportation, oil refining, metallurgy, defence, and many other fields.

Extracting rare earth elements from raw ore is difficult and costly, as they aren't generally concentrated in one place or with sufficiently high content to make mining economically viable.

Moreover, the process of mining and processing rare earth elements causes significant environmental damage, which is why Western countries restrict domestic mining permits. This is also the reason for the term "rare earth."

Việt Nam has a reserve of approximately 22 million tons of rare earth elements, ranking second in the world after China, with 44 million tons. However, the extraction and export of rare earth elements face many difficulties. The two licensed rare earth mines in Lai Châu and Yên Bái have remained inactive for years.

South Korea and Việt Nam recently signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a supply chain centre for rare earth and core mineral resources. — VNS