Illegal mining exposed in Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve

The Beijing News exposed illegal mining practices in the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve in southern Qinghai province. The reporter found open-pit mines scarring the valleys surrounding the famous headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Mekong rivers. The bulk of the damage occurred in 2012 when coal and steel prices shot up, incentivising local herders and miners to engage in illegal mining. According to a geologist interviewed, the coal in the area is of low quality and distributed unevenly. As a result, miners looking to turn a quick profit did not follow proper mining techniques and instead mined from exposed coal seams, causing widespread damage. The miners also left coal washing wastewater ponds behind without properly sealing them, causing runoffs of the polluted water and subsidence in nearby mountains. The county Land Resources Department applied for mine reclamation funding in 2014. However, the dispersed nature of the mining that took place created challenges for restoration. Unclear administrative divisions in the Tibetan Autonomous Region where the mining took place had weakened oversight in the area.

After the article went viral, the local government pledged to restore the mine pits and address ecological harm by October, according to the Global Times. The Ministry of Environmental Protection central inspection team also announced they would look into the situation. One of the mine areas exposed by the article is still operating while the two others have been shut down.