The Ministry of Public Security’s Investigation Police Agency recently issued its conclusion on the illegal mining of rare earths in Yen Bai Province and recommended charging 27 individuals involved, including former officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Yen Bai Province.
According to the investigation, Liu De Hua, a foreign national, purchased 2,160 tons of rare earth ore with a 14-17 percent content (not deeply processed) from Doan Van Huan (Chairman of Thai Duong Company). He then instructed Nguyen Thanh Doan (Deputy Director of Truong Son War Invalids Joint Stock Company) to transport the ore from Yen Phu mine (Yen Bai Province) to processing factories.
The defendant, Nguyen Thanh Doan, arranged for workers, including both Vietnamese and Chinese nationals, to organize production in Hai Phong. The ore purchased from Huan was then processed to increase its rare earth content to 20-30 percent.
Since the origin of Doan Van Huan's ore was illegal and the 30-percent content was not permitted for export, Liu De Hua instructed his team to mix in additional chemicals and additives. The rare earth ore was then packaged in bags bearing the label "Bao Khang Rice. Net weight: 50kg" to disguise the ore.
Liu De Hua also hired Qiu Wei Feng (Director of GUANGZHOU Company, based in China) to handle the export paperwork, declaring the goods as an "Oxalate mixture," while in reality, they were rare earth minerals being shipped from Vietnam to China. Qiu Wei Feng then enlisted defendant Tran Duc (Director of Duong Lieu Company) to facilitate the export process under Liu De Hua's instructions.
The investigation alleges that during the export process, because the goods lacked proper documentation proving their origin, defendant Tran Duc used the legal entity of Duong Lieu Company to declare ownership, creating commercial invoices to legitimize the goods’ origin and file export declarations.
Between May 5, 2023, and September 2, 2023, Tran Duc opened eight export declarations at the Dinh Vu Port Customs Department (Hai Phong City), declaring the goods as an "Oxalate mixture," with a total weight of over 200 tons and a value exceeding US$501,000. In reality, the goods were rare earth minerals that had been mixed and disguised for illegal export. Based on the price of rare earth ore with a TREO content of 14-20 percent, the investigation accuses Liu De Hua of smuggling over 200 tons of rare earth minerals worth over $341,000.
The investigation concluded that Liu De Hua left for China on September 24, 2023. In response, authorities sent a request to the Ministry of Public Security’s Foreign Relations Department to coordinate with the Chinese Embassy to verify Liu De Hua’s background and legal compliance, but no results have been obtained so far. On December 14, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security issued a domestic arrest warrant and requested an international warrant for Liu De Hua on charges of "smuggling."
In this case, Doan Van Huan not only engaged in business with Liu De Hua but also had another customer, Liu Yu, a Chinese national and the CEO of HUYHUANG Company. The Ministry of Public Security found that in 2018, Liu Yu came to Vietnam to source rare earth ore for export to China, where it would be sold to processing facilities. During this period, Liu Yu met with Doan Van Huan and they agreed to cooperate in building a hydrometallurgical plant. Doan Van Huan showed Liu Yu the mining license for Thai Duong Company and translated its contents for him.
As a result, Liu Yu was aware that the rare earth ore from Thai Duong’s Yen Phu mine had not been sufficiently processed to meet export standards. Doan Van Huan also made it clear that if Liu Yu bought the ore, the transaction could not be formalized with a contract or invoice, as the ore was not authorized for sale, making the transaction illegal.
Despite this, between May 2020 and June 2021, Liu Yu purchased 1,953 tons of rare earth ore from Doan Van Huan, worth over VND70 billion, of which more than VND59 billion had been paid. Liu Yu is currently detained at T16 prison, facing charges of "handling property obtained through crime."
According to the investigation, from 2019 to 2023, as Chairman and CEO of Thai Duong Company, Doan Van Huan directed and organized the illegal mining of rare earth and iron ore at the Yen Phu mine in Yen Bai Province, with a total value exceeding VND864 billion. The authorities determined that Doan Van Huan illegally sold thousands of tons of rare earth ore, valued at over VND403 billion, and hundreds of thousands of tons of iron ore, valued at over VND333 billion, illegally benefiting by more than VND736 billion.
