A 300-ton jade stone discovered over a year ago in Hpakant, Kachin State, has finally been valued at over K10 billion (US$7,320,000). The stone will be cut into several pieces before it is sold.
It was unearthed on October 10, 2016, in a mine jointly operated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation and the Yadanar Taung Tann Gems Company It was found at a depth of 60 meters inside a mountain and sat in the mine for days before the company figured out how to move it.
The stone’s weight was initially estimated at 174 tons, and it was valued at K7 billion (US$5,125,000). However, both of those numbers have since been updated.
“The estimated weigh of the massive jade stone is more than 100 tons above the original findings. As it is immense, we had to call experts from China to help estimate the price,” local lawmaker Tint Soe told Eleven.
The stone measures 19 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 14 feet high, making it the largest stone found in secondary deposits, according to U Min Thu, deputy director of Myanmar Gems Enterprise.
Under the Myanmar Gems Law, the Yadanar Taung Tann Gems Company will have to pay an initial 20 percent pre-sales tax on the stone. Then, after it is cut, the Customs Department will issue another 20 percent sales tax, a five percent commercial tax, and a three percent service fee for the Myanmar Gems Enterprise. The government can expect to receive over K2 billion (US$1.5 million) from this stone.
However, some critics in the jade industry have raised concerns that the massive stone is being undervalued. Some international observers said the stone could be worth up to US$170 million once it is cut and processed. A low valuation would suppress the amount of tax the government can collect on it and allow more money to flow into the pockets of the owners.
Jade mining companies in Myanmar are notoriously undertaxed because of their elite connections. An investigation by Global Witness earlier this year found that mines in Kachin State produced around US$31 billion of jade in 2014 alone, equal to almost half of Myanmar’s official GDP that year.
Little of the bounty trickles down to impoverished locals who are left to sift through the rubble left by the mining firms that control the industry – many of them controlled by military families and drug lords.
The Yadanar Taung Tann Gems is owned by Steven Law, managing director of Asia World Group – Myanmar’s largest conglomerate, founded in 1992 as a front for heroin trafficking with the consent of the junta.
The stone is now being held in a warehouse in Dekkhinathiri Township, Naypyidaw, under tight security. Parts of it will be sold at the Myanmar Gems and Jade Emporium on December 12.
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