According to the United States Geological Survey, Vietnam is estimated to hold the world's third-largest bauxite ore reserves, after Guinea and Australia, which accounts for 14.2% of the world’s reserve [1]. Up to 96% of this reserve is located in the Central Highlands [4], of which 975 million tons are in Lam Dong province, 18% of Vietnam’s bauxite reserve base [2]. Although the Vietnamese government approved in April 2006 plans to begin mining bauxite reserves in the Central Highlands [3], it was on November 1, 2007, through the enactment of the Prime Minister’s Decision 167 (Master Plan for Exploration, Mining, Processing and Use of Bauxite Ore in 2007-2015 Period), when the Vietnamese government made official its plan and signed a strategic agreement with the Chinese government to extract bauxite resources in the Central Highlands [2,4]. The Tan Rai project is one of the most important parts of the Master Plan. Between 2007 and 2010, a coordinated opposition was carried out by civil society activists, bloggers, environmentalists, lawyers, religious leaders and senior Communist Party officials, which led to a series of policy debates and high-level reviews of the project’s sustainability, environmental as well as social impact, by various government ministries. A series of letter written by retired General Giap (a heroe of the independence struggle) to the Prime Minister, protesting the government’s plans to go through with the project and warning of China’s invasive economic ties to Vietnam’s core domestic interests, was one of the most effective events at drawing international attention to the issue [2]. In spite of that, the Vietnamese state-owned corporation Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (VINACOMIN) went ahead with the mining project: construction began on the Tan Rai Plant in 2008 and in early 2012 it began extracting and processing aluminium from its raw source, bauxite [3, 6, 7]. After 5 years of construction and trial, in September, 2013, Tan Rai bauxite complex officially operated [9]. The greatest concern associated with the bauxite mining lies in the impact of the red mud (bauxite residue) and tailing slurry (waste water discharged during the sifting process) on the Central Highlands’ environment of and its downstream region. Containing high levels of metal oxide and sodium hydroxide, the sludge could cause great damage to water supplies and the surrounding agricultural industry (primarily coffee), as well as to the health and safety of thousands of residents in the area [2,3]. Related to that, some scientists have pointed out that the technologies and the technical design of the Tan Rai factory are problematic, given that Chalieco (a subsidiary of the Aluminium Corporation of China, the world’s third-largest aluminium producer), responsible for the construction and design of the alumina plants, has not used advanced technologies [4, 8]. In addition to that, deforestation, increased vulnerability to drought and floods in the lowlands, relocation and population displacement in a region that is traditionally home to hill tribes and indigenous populations, and the large amount of freshwater required for mining bauxite and producing alumina when water scarcity is growing in the Central Highlands, are also a matter of concern [4]. |
Name of conflict: | Tan Rai bauxite mining in Central Highlands, Vietnam |
Country: | Vietnam |
State or province: | Lam Dog Province |
Location of conflict: | Loc Thang town, Bao Lam District |
Accuracy of location | HIGH (Local level) |
Type of conflict. 1st level: | Mineral Ores and Building Materials Extraction |
Type of conflict. 2nd level: | Mineral ore exploration Tailings from mines Mineral processing |
Specific commodities: | Aluminum/Bauxite |
Project details | Initial production capacity for the alumina processing plant targeted 600,000 tons per year by 2010, and then 1,2 million tons per year thereafter [3,4]. By 2013, plant's annual output was expected to be about 650,000 tonnes of alumina [7], but according to the data [10] in 2014, the Tan Rai bauxite-alumina complex churned out 485,000 tonnes, and in 2015, it is expected to produce 540,000 tonnes. By the terms of the master plan, the project life is 30 years (2007-2036), with a total investment divided into two phases of implementation: from 2007 to 2015 and from 2016 to 2025 [2]. According to Vinacomin, the project is expected to operate for fifty to sixty years [4]. In the words of an official of Bao Lam District, where the project is located, in 2013 the Tan Rai bauxite project covered approximately 2,000 hectares. It´s estimated that the Tan Rai project would produce 80 to 90 million tons of red mud over its lifespan, while Vinacomin had designed cesspools with a maximum capacity of only 25 million tons [4]. |
Project area: | 2,300 |
Level of Investment for the conflictive project | 700,000,000 |
Type of population | Rural |
Affected Population: | 1000-1,600 households |
Start of the conflict: | 01/11/2007 |
Company names or state enterprises: | Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries (VINACOMIN) from Vietnam China Aluminum International Engineering Corporation Limited (CHALIECO) from China |
Relevant government actors: | General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Prime Minister of Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam´s government Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment Government officials and the National Assembly |
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | Vietnamese NGO Consultancy on Development (CODE). Vietnam-based spokesperson for the Wildlife Conservation Society National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children, Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) NGO Viet Ecology Foundation Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV) |
Intensity | MEDIUM (street protests, visible mobilization) |
Reaction stage | In REACTION to the implementation (during construction or operation) |
Groups mobilizing: | Local ejos Local government/political parties Neighbours/citizens/communities Social movements Local scientists/professionals Religious groups Reporters and the domestic press, Artist-intellectuals, Retired high-level officials, Activist bloggers, Overseas Vietnamese communities, Government officials and the National Assembly |
Forms of mobilization: | Development of a network/collective action Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism Media based activism/alternative media Official complaint letters and petitions Public campaigns |
Environmental Impacts | Potential: Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Soil contamination, Soil erosion, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Mine tailing spills |
Health Impacts | Potential: Other environmental related diseases |
Socio-economical Impacts | Visible: Displacement |
Project Status | In operation |
Conflict outcome / response: | Criminalization of activists Repression Reviews of the project’s sustainability, environmental as well as social impact |
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | Not Sure |
Briefly explain: | Although the collective citizen action failure to stop the bauxite mines, some positive questions should be pointed out: on the one hand, diverse groups and individuals were able to suspend their differences to form a common opposition. On the other hand, it has had a considerable impact both on the Vietnam´s government and Vietnam’s highest legislative body, the National Assembly. As a result, a conference to examine the environmental impact of the mines as well as a special investigation by the Ministry of Industry and Trade took place in 2009. It was the first national seminar of its kind in Vietnam, where both critics and pro-development had the opportunity to express their opinions. This Scientific Workshop was an attempt to include these discussions within the structures of the Vietnamese political system. |
Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc) |
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References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries |
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Contributor: | Raquel Piñeiro Rebolo. Máster en Gestión Fluvial Sostenible y Gestión Integrada de Aguas, Asignatura ‘Ecología política y gestión de Aguas’. |
Last update | 18/08/2019 |
Conflict ID: | 2066 |
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