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Hello everyone,
My name is Sam Cooley and today’s CGA presentation is
specifically about gemstones from Myanmar.
For centuries Myanmar and its various mining regions have
been well known in the western world for being the source for
some of the rarest and most impressive coloured stones to ever
be found on Earth. Many very rare jewels originate from this
obscure and mineral-rich country.
While I am no expert in gemmology I certainly have had an
interesting introduction and connection to this nation and the
gemstones it contains.
Slide 2
Before beginning the main body of this presentation I want to
start by explaining that I am not a gemmologist, jeweller,
geologist or a historian.
I’m a journalist, and it was in the interest of obtaining exclusive
stories that I first made my trip to Southeast Asia three years
ago today before learning extensively about Myanmar gems
and their origins.
Since 2016 I’ve been working in Myanmar making more than a

dozen trips into that country, first to report on its fledgling
democracy and also Canadian criminals in Bangkok for various
Canadian and American news agencies.
I suppose the story that started it all was an article I wrote at
the end of 2016 for the National Post specifically about the
ongoing hunt for discovering prehistoric organisms, flying
dinosaur-birds specifically, inside amber
Slide 3
Formerly known as Burma, the country’s name was changed to
Myanmar in 1989 shortly following a bloody populist
democratic revolution the year previous which was promptly
stamped out by the nation’s ruling military government.
To this day, Myanmar is often referred to as Burma, and both
terms are frequently used interchangeably by its inhabitants,
Myanmar expatriates, and the rest of the world.
As you can see on the map, Myanmar is situated in a very
interesting geographic intersection between many different
countries.
In fact, Myanmar shares borders with five neighbouring
nations, most notably China in the Northeast, India in the
Northwest, Thailand in the Southeast and to a lesser extent,
Bangladesh and Laos.

Myanmar has a population of roughly 54 million and among
this 54 million is an extremely ethnically and linguistically
diverse population that is at times divided and hostile with one
another.
Though it’s not well understood or researched by western
scholars, Myanmar is the site for the world’s longest ongoing
insurgencies.
Portions of almost all border areas are at least somewhat
controlled by armed ethnic groups who have been at odds with
the predominantly buddhist bamar central state government
throughout modern history.
Slide 4
After nearly 70 years of continual isolation from the rest of the
world, it truly is like walking back in time sometimes when
visiting such a nation, complete with breathtaking views of
golden temples.
Large golden spires sticking out over the skyline can be seen all
throughout the country, and it is part of the reason why
Myanmar is called “the Golden Land”.
Of course, that nickname also has to do with what lays
underneath the ground as well.
Slide 5

During the Industrial Revolution in England in the 1700s
and 1800s The British East India Company started to
covet the vast amount of natural resources inside
Myanmar, such as its precious metals and gems.
Before the British took over in the late 1800s, Burma was
ruled predominantly by Bamar Kings who were eventually
overthrown after three waves of what’s now known as the
Anglo Burmese Wars, which ended with the complete
annexation of Burma by the British.
During this period of british rule, Burma grew to become
one of the most advanced countries in Asia. Roads,
bridges, courts and other administrative structures were
constructed and staffed under colonial rule.
But shortly after gaining its independence in 1948, the
nation spiralled into chaos, rebellion, and isolation, which
has continued until today.
On the far left photo is an example of an old structure built
by the British. Many such buildings remain in cities across
the country, often occupied but in a state of disrepair and
decay.
Slide 6
Of all the various mining areas in Myanmar, perhaps
Mogok is the most famous.

The mining tract, is situated close to a town of the same
name and its been mined on and off from the 6th century
until the present day.
A great deal of famous old rubies and sapphires from royal
collections across Europe were mined from this location.
Although its famous royal blue sapphires and highly
fluorescent pigeon blood rubies are what makes Mogok a
household name for many jewellers and gem collectors
across the world, a number of semi precious stones such
as spinel, lapis, garnets, moonstone and peridot are also
from Mogok.
Presently Mogok has several mines which continue to be
operational. Most are controlled in joint ventures between
the Burmese government and private enterprises.
For Centuries, westerners have made the journey to visit
Mogok but have often been restricted or partially restricted
from actually visiting the mines. Today, the average
traveller is also restricted and must apply far in advance in
order to get a permit.
Slide 7
Since the 1700s records exist of Burmese kings and
their love of high quality gems from their kingdom.

King Mindon, seen in black and white on the left, ruled
Burma from the early to mid 1800s and it’s said that he
would demand rough sapphires to be shipped to his
palace so that he could personally sift through the
stones and separate the different quality pieces himself.

The Burmese monarchy put a policy in place which
demanded gems over a certain size to be the official
property of the king.

I want to tell everyone about a famous story of the
cursed Nga Mauk ruby, which is a gigantic Mogok ruby
weighing about 360 carats that was a found by a miner
with the same name sometime in the 1600s or 1700s.

Nga Mauk is said to have delivered the stone to the king
himself while keeping the other half of the ruby, which
he sold in secret to a Chinese prince.

This deception wasn’t discovered until much later,
when the king, while entertaining the same chinese
prince--is offered the other half of the stone as a gift.
When the king saw this stone he knew it fit perfectly
with his own ruby.

Furious that he’d been deceived, Nga Mauk was burned
alive atop a hill in Mogok. To this day, the hill where he
died is named after his wife, who is said to have died of

a broken heart

Slide 8
The story of the legendary Nga Mauk ruby doesn’t end
after its discoverer is burned alive.
This legendary stone has been noted in the diaries of both
french and British imperialists who have laid their eyes on
it before the stone went missing once the king’s jewels
were supposedly turned over after Burma was annexed in
the late 1800s.
Burmese have long accused the British people of having
stolen their gems during colonial times. In fact, many of
these gems have ended up in the possession of royal
families and ultra rich europeans.
Slide 9
This is an image produced by the Burma Ruby Mining
Company in the early 1900s.
Sifting through alluvial marble gravel in a manner similar to
this still goes on today in Myanmar’s famed Valley of
Gems.
Except today, the Burmese have restored ownership over
their own mines, and foreigners must apply for special
permits in the capital city.

Here are some photographs of various gems from Mogok;
rubies, sapphires, spinel ‘angel cut” crystals.
Known for their extremely brilliant fluorescent glow under
ultraviolet light, many gem collectors and jewellers here
likely are aware of the unparalleled premium paid on
pigeon blood rubies from mogok.
Slide 11
Currently permits are necessary to do site visits to the
mines but also to access the town of mogok itself.
Sometimes the restriction is lifted for special events and
only for a narrow window of opportunity. Most visitors
should expect to wait about two weeks for the permit to be
approved before making the trip to Mogok.
Permits can be obtained by visiting Naypidaw, Myanmar’s
spacious and vacant capital city.
Naypyidaw is often called a ghost town by foreign
travellers to the city. After numerous times visiting I have
to agree that it’s quite a strange place. At least a dozen
massive luxury hotels are fully staffed and ready to serve
hundreds of guests, but the hotels are vacant.
Naypyidaw is also home to the myanmar gems enterprise,
the state owned monopoly which issues a limited number

of permits for not only mining but also the purchase and
export of natural materials in Myanmar.
Slide 12
So, moving on to another gem-rich portion of Myanmar, I want
to discuss Kachin State.
It’s a semi-autonomous region in the far north of Myanmar,
named after the approximately 1 million population of ethnic
kachin hill tribe people who settled the area hundreds of years
ago (maybe a thousand, can’t remember)
The Kachins are a clan-based ethnic group consisting of six
different tribes: the Jingpo; who are the largest, the zaiwa,
rawang, lisu, lashis, and the maru.
Kachin State has three mining areas Hpakant (for jadeite),
mogaung (for maw sit sit jade), and Tanai (known for its amber)
Slide 13
One of the only reliably unrestricted areas in Kachin State
is Myitkyina, the far northern capital city.
It has a population of about 300,000 people and the city
itself is actually much cleaner than a lot of the other cities

in the country.
One of my first introductions to both Kachin State, its
people and its resources was during a three month period
where I taught college media courses to Kachin youth at a
catholic church compound.
Although conflict does take place between the Kachin
Independence Army and the Burmese Tatmadaw, their
national military, these conflicts are not actually within city
limits.
Contrary to what many people say about Kachin State, it’s
safe to visit Myitkyina, however an abundance of
misinformation is propagated by parties who seem to be
interested in keeping people from visiting this untouched
and scenic land, or it could just be plain ignorance.
A large government regulated gem and jewellery market is
located in the north end of town, although it receives few
foreign visitors, many of whom are warded off by stories of
warfare and bloodshed despite christians, buddhists and
muslims doing business and drinking tea together on a
daily basis.
Slide 14
Also known as Burmite, Myanmar amber--clear yellow
amber in particular--is becoming a hot commodity
throughout china and the rest of the world as a precious

material, store of wealth, and also fashionable jewellery.
Myanmar amber is very different from amber from other
parts of the world.
For one, it’s far more rare and older than baltic amber.
Myanmar amber is from the cretaceous period, which is
100 million years old, where baltic amber is 44 million
years old.
Burmite is also harder and holds its polish unlike amber
found in localities such as indonesia for example.
Myanmar amber is so hard that its’ actually possible to
facet it like a gemstone.
There are two main mining localities for Myanmar amber:
tanai, which is in Kachin state, and also Hkanti, a town
and mining region situated on the other side of the
western edge of the hukawng valley.

Since 2016 I have witnessed an exponential amount of growth
in the markets of Northern Myanmar for amber. Higher quality
specimens are getting harder and harder to find, and those who
have a hold of it are increasingly unwilling to let go of their
prized yellow and red amber jewellery.
This is mostly to do with the growing population of collectors of
amber jewellery in neighbouring china. However a whole new
industry is merging both gems and jewellery with that of
paleontology.
The search for rare amber inclusions, fossils basically, are
trapped inside this ancient sticky tree resin and are discovered
on a daily basis by hundreds of amber fossil hunters.
Slide 16
I’m going to play the first few minutes of a documentary I
produced for the financial post.
Slide 17
This is a 15 minute documentary I produced while on a 3
day long boat voyage to an amber mining region in
Northern Sagaing last summer
Slide 18
You might have noticed in the first video, one of the amber
dealers was discussing the best and most valuable amber

inclusions are of “dino birds”, which are believed to be the
missing link between dinosaur and bird, entombed in a
sticky tree sap from millions of years ago.
For the hundreds of Myanmar amber hunters who are
working right now, polishing away at their amber on bench
grinders on their basement floors, a piece of amber with a
feather in it--or a full fledged winged tetrapod is
considered the holy grail of amber inclusions.
I have revisited some kachin and burmese friends after
some of these lucky sales and they have transformed their
lives. Formerly penniless, they're now building houses for
themselves and their parents because of a lucky break at
an emerging industry.
For at least a century Kachin tribal people have fashioned
amber into jewellery.
Generations ago, and still today, lisu chieftains can be
seen wearing massive amber necklaces containing what
they believed to be long extinct ancient winged animals
which gave them special powers.
While these stories might only be partially true, a growing
number of international researchers are beginning to put
the evolutionary pieces of the puzzle together.
Even just a few short years ago, cretaceous avian
researchers would have laughed at the prospect of

anyone discovering a tiny winged animal inside a small
amber pendant from Myanmar.
Today, not so much.
In 2016 the feathered tail was found inside a piece of
cretaceous amber and earlier this year an enantornithine
foot, the diameter of two milimeters was recently written
about in the international nature journal of science.
Slide 19
Unlike the manifold levels and stages of deception and
trickery involved with the treatment of corundum,
emeralds, etc, amber is relatively easy to determine
whether it’s synthetic or natural --even if you’re in the field.
Treatments are often easy to spot under a loup when
paying careful attention to spangled inclusions, which can
be an indicator of pressure fractures as a result of
overheating.
New sophisticated pressing techniques with the use of low
quality baltic amber powder are beginning to appear in
major markets in Myanmar in the last year or so.
Under ultraviolet light it’s possible to spot inconsistencies
in comparison to natural pieces, though.

Other methods such as float tests and burn tests can also
be used.
*Pass around piece of amber with U.V. light.
Slide 20
A big part of the study of Burmite amber inclusions has to
do with the manner in which the pieces are photographed.
High resolution photographs and complex data
reconstruction of Micro and Nano CT scans can allow for
international teams of researchers to study/share images
globally and view the specimen at a cellular and even
molecular level.
For public viewing outside of laboratories perhaps no other
imaging technique rivals that of Gigamacro, a California
based technology that is available through MIGHTYmacro,
run by Doug Angus Lee in nearby Hamilton.
Slide 21
Now we are moving on to jade

Here are some photographs of jadeite and its various
forms. The photo on the right is prices in a Hong Kong
jade shop. Approximately 5 hong kong dollars equals a
Canadian dollar, which means that ring is more than 100
thousand dollars
Since ancient times Jade has been valued as a “stone of
heaven” among China’s emperors and their subjects. It is
believed to bring good luck, fortune, success, and even in
the event that its wearer drops a piece of jade jewelry, if
the stone breaks it’s supposed to be good luck as well
because it’s warding off a future tragedy which may occur.
Superb fine quality imperial jade fetches prices surpassing
the cost of diamonds at major auctions in Hong Kong and
elsewhere.
Slide 22
Unlike the nephrite jade found throughout the world,
including Canada, Hpakant is ground zero for the world’s
largest supply of high quality jadeite, which is much rarer.
Situated west of Myitkyina, these Kachin himalayan
foothills are being unearthed at an alarming speed.
It’s a haphazard multi billion dollar industry that Myanmar’s
central government is only beginning to reign in and
regulate. While a fair bit of jade makes its way southward

into official markets in the country, a huge quantity of jade
is shipped straight from the mines into neighbouring
Yunnan, China, without a moment’s consideration. But
keep in mind all of these dangerous porous border areas
are off limits to foreigners.
Just like the gold rush boomtowns in Western United
States and Canada in the 1800s, the jade mines of Kachin
state are a dangerous place for young fortune seekers
drawn by the allure of easy money.
Every year, dozens of people, sometimes hundreds die in
landslides as they pick through loose mounds and tailings
attempting to find jade in gravel left over by gigantic
komatsu backhoes run by official mining operations.
And like all remote mining communities in the world, the
‘work hard, play hard’ mentality is strong, and this attracts
a lot of very destructive vices among the workers. Hpakant
is rife with disease, brothels, drug dens and casinos which
rob these miners of their fortunes before they get a chance
to leave town and return home to their families.
If you ask them, just about every family in Kachin state
has a friend or relative who managed to do well for
themselves after the sale of a single piece of jade. But
they also have many stories of friends and relatives who
fall prey to the dangers of such a life.

Now we’re on to Maw Sit Sit Jade.
Maw Sit Sit is an extremely rare type of jade that is now no
longer considered by GIA to be a true jade because in
reality it’s a dense type of rock containing several
extremely rare minerals.
Sometimes referred to as the real life kryptonite due to its
otherworldly origin and bright colour, Maw Sit Sit is
actually named after the town of the same name. In the
late 80s and early 90s the entire mine was exhausted
entirely in a short period of time. In Burmese language,
Maw means mine, and Sit Sit was the town name.
The stone comes in many qualities, porosities and density
based on the percentage of composition of its various
constituent minerals, which include Chromium enriched
jadeite, kosmochlor, clinochlore, feldspar, albite and other
rare minerals
Slide 24
There’s a legend among Southern Chinese and also
Northern Myanmar people regarding Maw Sit Sit and how
it landed on earth from a green asteroid.
This legend was corroborated in the late 1700s after a
meteorite found in mexico was studied to contain small

amounts of Kosmochlor, which has only been found in
extremely small poor quality in guatamala and mexico,
and of course, the largest and best deposit is in Northern
Burma.
The name kosmochlor itself is derived from Greek,
Kosmos, meaning space, and chlor, which is greek for
green.
Slide 25
I want to thank everyone at the Canadian Gemmological
Association and Rachelle Carswell for reaching out to me
to arrange this presentation.
If you’re interested in reading some of my work you can
visit my website at goodcolour.ca
Also for further reading into Myanmar, its history and its
gems, recommend two authors: bertil lintner and his books
‘Land of Jade’ and ‘Burma in Revolt: Opium and
Insurgency Since 1948’
And also S.K. Samuels’ book Burma Ruby, which lays out
the history of mogok from ancient times to the mid 2000s.

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