Myanmar tin mega-mine restarts operations
2026-09-11 11:28:25 [Print]
After a three-year hiatus, the UWSA has restarted operations at what was formerly one of the world's largest tin mines, according to the International Crisis Group.
Access to Man Maw and information about its operations is highly restricted by the ethnic minority army that controls it in eastern Wa State, which borders China.
One of the world's biggest tin mines, located in an autonomous region of war-torn Myanmar, is resuming operations suspended since 2023 and ramping up exports to China, a think tank said Thursday.
Tin is an element vital to the artificial intelligence industry, used as solder to attach microchips to circuit boards and bond together other electronics in data centres.
Eastern Myanmar's Man Maw mine emerged suddenly as a global supply lynchpin in the 2010s, making the nation the world's third-largest tin producer and the biggest supplier to China.
Its abrupt closure by the powerful armed faction controlling the area coincided with the start of the AI boom, causing a price spike and a global scramble for the metal.
But the International Crisis Group think tank said operations are beginning a "slow restart".
China's imports of tin ore and concentrates from Myanmar in the first half of 2026 have already surpassed 2025's total, reaching nearly 40,000 metric tonnes, Beijing's customs data shows.
Production levels are still far from Man Maw's peak.
In 2016, Myanmar supplied nearly 500,000 metric tonnes of tin ore and concentrate to China, accounting for more than 99 percent of such imports, Beijing's customs data shows.
The 2023 Man Maw mine shutdown was likely caused by a jostle for control among dynastic Wa groups, the Crisis Group said, rather than armed conflict.
Access to Man Maw and information about its operations is highly restricted by the ethnic minority army that controls it in eastern Wa State, which borders China.
One of the world's biggest tin mines, located in an autonomous region of war-torn Myanmar, is resuming operations suspended since 2023 and ramping up exports to China, a think tank said Thursday.
Tin is an element vital to the artificial intelligence industry, used as solder to attach microchips to circuit boards and bond together other electronics in data centres.
Eastern Myanmar's Man Maw mine emerged suddenly as a global supply lynchpin in the 2010s, making the nation the world's third-largest tin producer and the biggest supplier to China.
Its abrupt closure by the powerful armed faction controlling the area coincided with the start of the AI boom, causing a price spike and a global scramble for the metal.
But the International Crisis Group think tank said operations are beginning a "slow restart".
China's imports of tin ore and concentrates from Myanmar in the first half of 2026 have already surpassed 2025's total, reaching nearly 40,000 metric tonnes, Beijing's customs data shows.
Production levels are still far from Man Maw's peak.
In 2016, Myanmar supplied nearly 500,000 metric tonnes of tin ore and concentrate to China, accounting for more than 99 percent of such imports, Beijing's customs data shows.
The 2023 Man Maw mine shutdown was likely caused by a jostle for control among dynastic Wa groups, the Crisis Group said, rather than armed conflict.
Tin Ingot 99.95%min EXW China
Unit:RMB/mt
China tin ingot producers' inventory to production ratio statistics by province by month
Unit: %
