Myanmar gold mining has expanded significantly since the 2021 military coup, funding armed opposition groups and generating informal taxation revenue for the ruling military regime amidst a conflict that has caused over 100,000 fatalities. Domestic bullion sales have surged due to the devaluation of the national currency, the kyat, and foreign currency rationing, prompting price controls and increased smuggling into neighbouring countries such as India.
This unregulated economic surge relies on small-scale extraction methods using toxic mercury and excessive river dredging, which severely degrade local ecosystems and divide communities. Downstream, these environmental and social harms persist across conflict lines and can endure even under ceasefires if the underlying political drivers of violence remain unaddressed. Illicit flows from these operations ultimately cross South and Southeast Asian transit routes, potentially entering global supply networks.
Informal gold extraction in Singu Township demonstrates how wartime resource dependency creates parallel fiscal channels that endure beyond formal ceasefires. When the kyat depreciates and foreign currency rationing takes hold, the precious metal functions as an indispensable medium of exchange for both insurgent revenue collection and regime survival.
Downstream, this dynamic generates structural resilience for illicit trade networks, as unregulated bullion flows across borders into India to bypass domestic price controls. These transnational purchasing patterns ensure that informal mining operations remain economically viable regardless of shifts in territorial control.
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