BURMESE JADE
The Story of Myanmar’s Jadeite
In the 1990s, Richard Hughes was one of the first western gemologists and authors to visit Myanmar in three decades. After touring that nation’s jade mines and markets, he described the jade trade as “… a spin of the roulette wheel. Some will win, more still will lose.”
Since that time, the production and prices of Myanmar’s jade have soared to record highs. But one thing has not changed: just as Hughes noted, that nation’s jade trade still has only a few winners and many more losers.
The Hpakan region of the southeastern Asian nation of Myanmar (formerly Burma) produces the world’s finest jade. “Burmese jade,” the traditional name preferred by the gem trade, is known for its exquisite colors, translucency, and fvine grain that are unmatched by jade from any other source.
Finished pieces of the finest Burmese jade now sell for thousands of dollars per gram, and recent mine recoveries have made international headlines. In 2015, a Hpakan mine discovered a 200-ton jade boulder worth $17 million. Two years later, miners found a 50-ton jade boulder worth $3 million. Despite their remarkable sizes and values, these two finds represent only a tiny fraction of Myanmar’s annual, multi-billion-dollar jade production.
The dark side of the story of Burmese jade, however, is one of rampant government corruption, environmentally disastrous open-pit mining operations, huge profits reaped only by a few wealthy mine owners, and thousands of artisanal miners trapped in an endless cycle of poverty, drug abuse, and dangerous labor.
UNDERSTANDING THE MINERALS OF THE JADE GEM
The gemological term “jade” pertains to two distinct minerals: jadeite and nephrite. The pyroxene mineral jadeite is a sodium aluminum iron silicate; nephrite, a basic calcium magnesium iron silicate, is a member of the actinolite-tremolite series of amphibole minerals.
As metamorphic minerals, jadeite and nephrite occur at subduction zones near convergent tectonic-plate boundaries. But because of differing pressure origins, they are not found together. Neither occurs pure. Both jadeite jade and nephrite jade are technically rocks. Jadeite jade consists primarily of the mineral jadeite, along with lesser amounts of albite, tremolite, aegerine, and augite. Nephrite consists mainly of intermediate members of the actinolite-tremolite series.
Both jades crystallize in the monoclinic system but usually occur only in compact or massive forms that have a splintery fracture and no cleavage. Jadeite is nearly as hard as quartz; nephrite is a bit softer. Jadeite’s specific gravity ranges between
3.3 and 3.5; nephrite is somewhat less dense. The colors of both jades vary widely, with green, lavender, white, and gray being the
most common. The colors of jadeite jade tend to be more intense than those of nephrite jade.
While not particularly hard, both jades have an unusual texture that imparts extraordinary toughness and fracture-resistance. Under a scanning-electron microscope, they consist of tightly interlocked microscopic crystals and fibers.
When minerals and rocks fracture, mechanical energy travelsv in a trans-granular mode, progressing not around interlocked crystal grains, but directly through them. Because jade’s grains are randomly aligned, an energy wave must change direction with every grain it encounters, thusv requiring an unusual amount of mechanical energy to propagate a fracture.
JADE’S RELEVANCE ACROSS MILENNIA
Jade’s toughness made it an ideal material for fashioning into Paleolithic and Neolithic hammers, axes, knives, projectile points, and other tools and weapons. This toughness late enabled stonecutters to carve jade into objects of unusual intricacy and detail without fracturing.
The Chinese reverence for jade surpasses that of all other cultures. When Chinese cutters began making detailed carvings about 3000 BCE, jade was already more than just a gemstone and carving medium. Symbolizing beauty, grace, purity, and the highest Confucian virtues, it soon became ingrained into Chinese culture. Even today, the Chinese view jade as a bridge between heaven and Earth, with its brightness representing heaven and its substance representing Earth.
For more than four millennia, Chinese cutters worked only with nephrite obtained from the Kunlun Mountains of far-western China. Then, in the late 1700s CE, a new jade became available. It came from the remote Hpakan region beyond China’s southwestern border and was superior to nephrite in color, translucency, workability, and overall appearance. The Hpakan region of northernmost Myanmar rests atop a tectonic subduction zone where the Indian Plate is drawn beneath the Eurasian Plate. This crustal subduction generates sufficient pressure to alter peridotite, an ultramafic igneous rock, into serpentinite, a metamorphic rock consisting largely of serpentine-group minerals. Much later, regional uplifting fractured these serpentinite formations, enabling hydrothermal fluids to emplace dikes of nepheline (sodium potassium aluminum silicate) and jadeite. Erosion slowly exposed these formations, and weathering reduced the serpentinite to sand and gravel. Secondary deposition then created formations of semi-consolidated conglomerate containing rounded pieces of the original jadeite dikes. These range from pea-sized bits to huge boulders; all have drab, yellowish-brown, oxidized surface “rinds” that conceal interiors of colorful, translucent jadeite. Hpakan jadeite first reached China about 1300 CE. Chinese cutters admired its beauty and workability but were unable to locate its source. Only after gaining control of Hpakan in the 1780s did the Chinese find the source and begin systematic mining. In 1798, a trade route called the “Jade Road” opened between Hpakan and the interior of China. The subsequent steady supply of fine jadeite quickly inspired Chinese cutters to higher levels of creativity. A clear mineralogical picture of jade began emerging in 1846, when French chemist Alexis Damour analyzed nephrite and identified it as an amphibole mineral. At that time, all jade was thought to be nephrite. But in 1860, during the Second Opium War, invading British and French forces sacked Beijing’s Summer Palace and shipped numerous jade carvings to Europe. In 1863, Damour analyzed this newly arrived jade and found that it differed chemically from nephrite. He identified it as a new pyroxene mineral that he named “jadeite.”
The Jade Road served as a trade route into China until World War II. But following the post-war
Communist takeover of China, the Maoist regime discouraged material symbols and possessions such as jade. The Jade Road was then abandoned, and the jadeite trade shifted to Thailand and the then-British Dependent Territory of Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, Burma was undergoing its own political upheavals. Following decades as a British colony, it became an independent republic in 1948. Then, after a 1962 coup, its new military dictatorship banned foreigners, nationalized the economy, and entered into a period of strict isolationism.
The 30-mile-long Hpakan Jade Tract is located in northern Myanmar’s largely inaccessible Kachin State. Populated mainly by separatist ethnic groups, Kachin, through its Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), has long waged guerilla warfare against the central government, partially funding its activities by taxing Hpakan’s thousands of independent, artisanal jade miners.
JADE MINING
In 1969, Burma’s military government tightened its control and banned private gemstone mining. But with the government unable to control Kachin State, private mining continued in Hpakan, where a black market funneled the jadeite to Thailand and Hong Kong.
But then, following Chinese free-market reforms and the decline of the Maoist culture in the 1980s, the Jade Road reopened, and Hpakan jadeite again began reaching the interior of China.
In 1988, an even more repressive military government took power and changed Burma’s name to Myanmar, a derivative of the ancient regional name Mranma. Four years later, it negotiated a cease-fire with the KIO and legalized private jade mining. Unfortunately, mining licenses were awarded only to a few well-connected military and political figures.
This arrangement, which would further enrich these already-wealthy mine owners and do nothing to benefit the nation, led to development of large, highly mechanized, open-pit mines. Heavy equipment of Chinese and American manufacture could not dig through hundreds of feet of conglomerate to search for jadeite. Jadeite production increased dramatically, but the huge, unregulated mines became environmental disasters.
While efficient at high-volume earth moving, these mines are inefficient at identifying and recovering jadeite. Substantial amounts of jadeite therefore end up in ever-growing waste dumps that have become a
magnet for hordes of unlicensed, artisanal miners.
An estimated 12,000 artisanal miners currently eke out a subsistence living by finding and selling pieces of discarded jadeite. Risking capture by government military patrols and armed minesecurity forces, these miners survive on poor diets in ramshackle settlements of lean-to shelters that lack sanitation facilities. Many cope with these abysmal conditions through the regular use of opium.
Realistically, the miners hope to find pieces of mid-quality jadeite to pay for several more months of searching the dumps. But their ultimate goal is to find even a small piece of top-quality jadeite that can be sold for $1,000 or more—a small fortune for hand-to-mouth artisanal miners with no other employment opportunities.
The steep mine dumps rise as high 400 feet above the bottom of the open pits and are extremely dangerous. Loaded from the top by huge ore-haulage trucks, the dumps stand at the limits of geological competence. Continuous dumping operations, digging by artisanal miners, and a long rainy season contribute to their instability.
In the last eight years, more than 1,000 miners have died in dump landslides with many more seriously injured. In 2015, a dump landslide killed 130 artisanal miners; three more landslides since have each killed at least 50 others. Nevertheless, soaring jade prices continue to lure more artisanal miners than ever to the dangerous dumps.
Driven by strong Chinese buying, jade prices had begun climbing rapidly in the 1990s. To take advantage of the booming jadeite trade, the prestigious international auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s opened Hong Kong offices.
In 1997, Christie’s auctioned the legendary “Doubly Fortunate” necklace of 65 stunning half-inchdiameter jadeite beads. The necklace’s name came from the original owner of the rough from which the beads were cut, who reportedly encountered only higher grades of jadeite each time he cut the stone, thus “doubling his fortune.” The necklace sold for an astounding $9.39 million, then an all-time record for jade, but one that would soon be broken.
By 2005, the big Hpakan mines were collectively accruing annual profits of a half-billion dollars. The United States Congress, concerned over the governmental corruption and human-rights abuses that plagued Hpakan jadeite mining, passed a 2008 act that limited the importation of Myanmar jadeite (and rubies) to hopefully curtail the profits of Myanmar’s mine owners. But this now-rescinded act had little effect, and the open-pit profits soon reached $1 billion per year. Today, the collective, annual profits of Myanmar’s open-pit jadeite mines are estimated to top $2 billion.
Of the 30,000 tons of jadeite now mined annually in the Hpakan Jade Tract, only a fraction of one percent is “imperial” jade—the highest grade. Sold by the gram, imperial jade has seven sub-grades, all used exclusively for high-end jewelry.
Four percent of Hpakan’s production is “commercial” jade. Selling for about $500 per pound in the rough, it is fashioned into fine carvings and mid-priced bangles. Bangles are one-piece (hololithic, or “whole-stone”), circular forms worn as bracelets and earrings. As a classic style of Chinese jade carving, bangles symbolize unity and eternity.
Most of Hpakan’s production is “utility” jade, material that is flawed by poor color, lack of translucency, or inclusions. Selling for $20 to
$80 per pound, it is often bleached or dyed to enhance its color and made into inlay pieces, mass-market carvings, and inexpensive jewelry.
Imperial jade’s emerald-green color is caused
by traces of divalent chromium. Less-desirable, “grassy”-green colors are due to divalent or trivalent iron; a mix of these iron chromophores creates bluish-green and bluish-black colors. Reddish-brown or dark-green staining, usually within fissures, is due to iron oxides and hydroxides, mainly hematite. Depending upon appearance, iron staining may or may not be an asset in determining value.
Traces of manganese create jadeite’s lavender colors, with variations due to the presence of vanadium and nickel chromophores. Subtle gray-to-black streaking is caused by graphite. Multicolored jadeite, usually green-white, green-lavender, lavender-white, or greenlavender-white, is created when chemically different hydrothermal fluids partially mix prior to solidification. White jadeite contains no chromophoric agents at all.
Jadeite grade is determined by a complex combination of color type and quality, translucency, tone, and clarity. Most prized is a clean, emerald-green color with no hints of yellow or blue. Also desirable are soft, rich, lavender colors with no blue or pink overtones. Color distribution in green or lavender jadeite should be even, with little or no zoning. The inherent zoning of multicolored jadeite should exhibit subtle, cloud-like swirls. Color saturation refers to color intensity, with thin or “watery” colors least desirable.
In fine jadeite, translucency is no less important than color. The top grades are highly translucent and may even approach semitransparency, transmitting and reflecting light with a soft glow.
Tone refers to darkness or lightness; the finest jade exhibits a mid-range balance. Fine jade also has excellent clarity with no fissures or obvious inclusions.
Rough Hpakan jadeite is sold in markets in Hpakan, Myitkyina, Lonkin, Moquang, Mandalay, and Yongon (formerly Rangoon), mainly to Chinese buyers for resale in the interior of China, Hong Kong, or Thailand. The largest Myanmar market is in Mandalay, where trade is wryly reported to be based on the “green, red, and white commodities”—green (jadeite); red (Burmese rubies from Mogok); and white (opium).
Buying and selling rough jadeite in these markets demands both experience and luck. Because commercialgrade exteriors may conceal imperial-grade interiors and vice versa, evaluating rough jadeite is tricky. Dealers grind small “windows” through the exterior rind of the rough, then use bright LED or xenon penlights to reveal the basic color and translucency of the interior jadeite.
Considering the current value of fine jade, fakery is inevitable, not so much in the Myanmar markets but in the global retailing of finished jade jewelry and carvings. Among the many jade simulants are chrysoprase, the green gem variety of microcrystalline quartz; natural green or lavender fluorite; dyed calcite; colored glass; and plastic. Jade is routinely waxed to enhance its luster, an acceptable treatment that is not considered an alteration.
Apart from jadeite, the Hpakan Jade Tract’s only other collectible mineral is bright-green Maw Sit Sit, also called “albite jade” and “chromian jade.” Named for its source, a village in the Jade Tract, Maw Sit Sit is a rock consisting mainly of the pyroxene mineral kosmochlor (sodium chromium silicate) and lesser amounts of chromium-enriched jadeite and albite. Kosmochlor creates Maw Sit Sit’s distinctive brightgreen color. Opaque and fashioned into cabochons and carvings, Maw Sit Sit is sometimes passed off as jadeite.
The real treasure of the Hpakan Jade Tract, of course, is the world’s best jadeite, and its prices continue to set records. Top-quality, imperial-jade bangles 55 millimeters in diameter and weighing 60 grams now sell for upwards of $1 million—roughly $16,000 per gram.
Gemologist and author Richard Hughes was right 25 years ago when he described the Hpakan jade trade as having only a few winners and many losers. And his assessment still holds true today. Although the prices and production of Burmese jadeite are soaring, the winners are still only a handful of wealthy mine owners, while the many losers include the nation of Myanmar and the thousands of artisanal miners who hope desperately to find even a small piece of imperial jade.