Myanmar discovers over 100-ton jade stone in northern state

English.news.cn 2010-01-29 14:22:07

YANGON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar has discovered a raw jade stone weighing 115 tons at Phakant mining area in the country's northernmost Kachin state, the local Newsweek journal reported Friday.

The jade stone, the second largest one to be mined in the past decade, was excavated by Max Myanmar company, the report said.

The world's largest jade stone weighing about 3,000 tons was discovered in Phakant in 2000.

The giant jade stone, measuring 21 meters long, 4.8 meters wide and 10.5 meters high was found at a depth of 12 meters underground, an earlier report said.

The country also claimed that it possesses the world's largest ruby weighing 21,450 carats, the largest star sapphire weighing 63, 000 carats, the biggest peridot weighing 329 carats and the biggest pearl weighing 845 carats.

There are six mining areas in Myanmar under gem and jade exploration, namely, Mongshu and Namhyar in Shan state, Mogok in Mandalay division, Khamhti in Sagaing division, Moenyin and Phakant in Kachin state.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, boasts ruby, diamond, cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet tinged with yellow.

The government's Central Statistical Organization revealed that in the fiscal year 2008-09, Myanmar produced 32,921 tons of jade and 18,728 million carats of gems which include ruby, sapphire, spinel and peridot, as well as 201,081 mommis (754 kilograms) of pearl.
Editor: Anne Tang
Xin Hua