The cost of copper in Burma

Copper is an essential metal used in wiring and electronics. It also is a source of income for the government of Burma. The expansion of a copper mine has pitted the Burmese government against villagers and Buddhist monks.

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Jan. 26, 2013

An itinerant worker carries a load of rock to be processed at a mine in Letpadaung, a copper-rich area west of Mandalay, Burma.

Jason Motlagh / For The Washington Post

Jan. 26, 2013

Workers break down the rock for raw copper dust, an essential metal used in wiring and electronics. The Burmese government wants to expand the mine, which locals say has scarred the area for more than 50 years.

Jason Motlagh / For The Washington Post

Jan. 26, 2013

Local families sit outside their homes near an acid factory close to the Letpadaung copper mine. Residents say chemicals from the military-owned factory has contaminated their air and water supply, causing health complications for their children.

Jason Motlagh / For The Washington Post

Jan. 26, 2013

U Kywak Ni, 60, stands on his porch at a government-built resettlement camp. The lifelong farmer says he was given no choice and meager compensation when authorities demanded he vacate his land to make way for a copper mine project.

Jason Motlagh / For The Washington Post

Jan. 27, 2013

Pyinnar Nanda, 20, sits in a monastery in Monywa, Burma. He was one of dozens of Buddhist monks reportedly hospitalized in November after the police cracked down against protesters in occupying an area of a copper mine in Letpadaung.

Jason Motlagh / For The Washington Post

Nov. 28, 2012

Hundreds of Buddhist monks and villagers occupied the Letpadaung mine, defying a government order to leave, saying they will stay until the expansion project is halted.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

Nov 28, 2012

The Buddhists were protesting in part because this shrine was to be dismantled as part of the mine’s expansion.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

Nov. 29, 2012

Security forces used water cannons and other devices to break up the occupiers hours before Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was expected to hear the protesters grievances. Fires also engulfed the protest camps at the mine in northwestern Burma, and dozens of Buddhist monks and villagers were injured, according to several protesters. The monks received treatment at this hospital in Monywa.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

Nov 30, 2012

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi greets supporters as she leaves after a public meeting close to the mine in Letpadaung following the police crackdown. Suu Kyi urged a negotiated resolution to the protests after the crackdown,which was the most severe since reformist President Thein Sein took office in 2011.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

Dec. 1, 2012

Burmese activists in India hold placards as they shout slogans during a protest in New Delhi. The plight of the villagers and Buddhist monks gained attention throughout Southeast Asia.

Sajjad Hussain / AFP/Getty Images

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