This article examines the strategies set out by the state and non-state actors in the race to mining resources in the area. In Southeast Asia, the mining sector is obviously not the only tool to ensure the economic and infrastructural development of the States and the populations but it stands out more and more as a strategic asset for the area’s countries. Because of the extra attractiveness and the wealth they bring about, the mining resources to be found underground in the area are dealt with as a central element in the national development policies and in the geostrategic thinking developed by Southeast Asian states.