Myanmar Jade Jadeite

Jadeite is the real good stuff, nephrite is the other, nephrite is rather dull and of low level. All jadeite sold today is actually from Myanmar, Chinese jade is nephrite produced since several thousand years. The stones comes in different colors just like a rainbow, there is lavender, green jade, white, purple, pink and all shades in between.

The valuable parameter with is the transparency or translucency the more of this the higher the price. Since Myanmar is the number one in the green stone business no wonder that there are plenty of jade shops and a so called emporiums where the minerals is on auction twice per year. The permanent shopping areas are at the Yangon Bogyoke Market and the Gem Museum in Yangon.

Jadeite mining

is done in northern Burma at the Mogaung area which is north of another famous gem area in the country, that is “Rubyland” at Mogok near the Irrawaddy river between Mandalay and Kachin State in the north where the mines are.

Those places have been under Chinese rule several hundred years ago which is one of the reasons to call jadeite from northern Myanmar still Chinese jade. There was a continuous back and forward between the different ethnic groups, actually all of them have been Chinese anyway in this case from Yunnan.

The Chinese are currently active conquering Myanmar not with the gun but with the dollar. They bought and buy large chunks of land and more than half of Mandalay, the second biggest city in the country is already under Chinese control. Raw minerals are not far away from Mandalay.

In the first half of 2011 the Myanmar government and some Chinese buyers made a huge buy jade deal for more than 100 millions of dollars, which led to the high rise of the local currency and posed real problem since it made all export items too expensive.

Mogaung in northern Myanmar is famous for its beautiful jadeite, this place was discovery by a Chinese from Yunnan. In the Centuries after this area was the destination for Chinese jade traders who came over, braving the difficult terrain and hostile tribes to buy rough jade boulders, about 50 per cent of the jadeite was exported to China either legally or illegally.

Myanmar jade mining at Phakant Area Rough Jadeite Jade mining at Phakant Kachin State

In Yunnan are several centers for jade cutting buy the mineral also were sent to Canton, Shanghai, and elsewhere to manufacture jewelry, sculptures and other objects out of it. The value depended, just as today, upon color, translucency, and texture. The best is a uniform glassy emerald green color also named imperial jade. Less valuable are other colors, all are manufactured into hi priced jewellery such as rings, necklaces, pendants and more. Jadeite with less value is used for buttons, figurines, and drinking cups. Other are even used for plates, spoons, flowerpots, and cups, white material is often used for a Jade Buddha. Until recently jade mining was under control of Chinese and Shan people, the material is mainly cut in Mandalay but the biggest jade market is in Yangon, that is Bogyoke Aung San Market and during the Yangon Emporium. Jade mining in Kachin State is not so easy because there is still some fighting between the military the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the military. Although Kachin State has the biggest deposits of quality Jadeite they still keep on fighting since decades instead of sitting together make peace and give everyone the possibility to benefit from the rich underground. The type of rough jade found in the region consist of alluvium, Uru boulder conglomerates, cenozoic sandstones, surpentinized peridotite and schists. Jade dykes are found in the surpentinized peridotite while jade boulders occur in Uru boulder conglomerates that has been deposited in the Uru river valley.

Burmese jade mining at Mogaung Rough jade Imperial Jade

Miners search for sources of jadeite dykes. Others search for places where bits and pieces of jade have been washed away by river torrents and settled in the river bed, this is known as "river jade" in China.