In the global contest over critical minerals, Myanmar has emerged as an unlikely pivot. Rare earth elements (REE)—dysprosium, terbium, and others indispensable for magnets in wind turbines, electric vehicles, and advanced defense systems—have become geopolitical assets of immense strategic importance.Myanmar has become the world’s third-largest producer of rare earth elements behind China and the US, with total production estimated at around 31,000 metric tons in 2024, up significantly from about 12,000 metric tons in 2022.
The epicenter of their extraction lies in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state, a region scarred by prolonged war and increasingly drawn into great-power competition.
The
Trump administration is weighing two options to access Myanmar’s rare earths: strike a deal with the military junta or bypass Naypyidaw and negotiate directly with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which controls most of the mining areas.
