21 April 2021

An Australian-backed company in which rugby star John Eales is an investor has continued to explore for gold in a violence-racked part of Myanmar since the army seized power in February, human rights activists say.

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Access Asia Mining executives are keeping local staff in Shan state in the belief that it is safer than Myanmar’s capital, Yangon, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Activists are also concerned that once Access Asia Mining begins to produce gold, its mines will help fund the Tatamadaw, which a UN fact-finding mission in 2019 found was responsible for human rights violations including murder, torture, rape and sexual slavery.

Access Asia Mining is registered in Singapore, but company records show that 37 of its 49 shareholders are Australian.

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Company records in Singapore and Australia show he owns 238,000 shares, or about 0.37% of Access Asia Mining, through a company called Ruck & Maul Pty Ltd, which is the trustee of his family trust.

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In 2018 Access Asia Mining stated in a letter to a UK-based organisation, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, that it had “never engaged with the Tatmadaw to solicit their support or to request security”.

“As a Singapore company with Australian management we are committed to international best practice standards and to proceeding with our work only after extensive consultation with local communities,” the company said in the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Guardian Australia.

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