Jade value suffers from exchange rate
Burma’s Ministry of Commerce has announced that the value of jade exports has topped US$1 billion since the beginning of the fiscal year. However, official statistics from the ministry suggest[…]
BUSINESS – Jade bidding begins at Nawpyidaw
Jade traders have assembled at Maniyadana jade Hall in Naypyidaw for a sale of more than 7,000 gems and jade lots. The Myanmar Gems Emporium announced that the bidding will take[…]
BRIEF – Jade mines to re-open in Kachin state
The Ministry of Mining’s Myanmar Gem Enterprise announced that jade mines in Kachin State will be re-opened in September after a two-year closure amid fighting between the Burmese army and[…]
BRIEF – Kachin jade mining town hit by flooding
Flooding caused by an upstream surge from mountain streams amid heavy rain in Kachin state’s Hpakant area left at least three residential neighbourhoods inundated in the jade mining town on[…]
Kachin Lead Story Natural resources News
China loan suspensions hurt Mandalay jade market
A recent change in policy by the Chinese government, to stop giving loans to jade merchants, has affected trade at the world-famous jade market in Mandalay frequented by Chinese jewellers and tourists.
Lead Story Natural resources News
Landslide kills 6, injures 4 in Kachin jade mine
A landslide in a jade mine in Burma’s northern Kachin State left six dead and four injured earlier this week.
Lead Story Natural resources News
Kachin Mining Minister says jade boulder “just an ordinary rock”
Kachin State authorities claim giant jade slab to be an “ordinary rock”, meanwhile whereabouts of its discoverer remain unknown following his arrest.
Lead Story Natural resources News
Military secures Hpakant area after 37-ton jade slab found.
A 37-ton slab of jade was found in Hpakant on 9 February. The Burmese military cordoned off the area, spelling trouble for the district’s small-time excavators.
BRIEF – Jade mine firms called to ‘contribute’ by Kachin govt
Mining companies at the Hpakant jade mine in Kachin State have called “unfair and illegal” a recent order by the regional government obliging them to contribute a hefty 10 million[…]
Following Kachin retreat, looters ‘run amok’ in jade-rich area
Looting and robbery has broken out in territory previously controlled by Kachin rebels in Burma’s jade heartland, according to local sources
Ministry orders jade mines to close during rainy season
The Ministry of Mining have issued a directive ordering all private mining companies operating in Kachin state’s Hpakant town to temporarily suspend their operations
Chinese companies ‘overexploiting’ jade mines
Jade-rich region of Kachin state suffering increased environmental degradation as companies illegally step up mining activities
Gem fair sees jade prices soar 10-fold
Rising prices for precious Burmese stone largely down to Chinese buyers, suggesting that the US-sanctioned industry is bouyant
Explosion at jade mine kills 2
Jan 9, 2009 (DVB), At least two people were killed and eight injured in an explosion in the Pha-Kant jade mine Kachin state on 31 December, according to local residents.[…]
Activists urge Burmese jade boycott in Beijing
Aug 6, 2008 (DVB), Burmese rights activists have called on people visiting China for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing to avoid buying any jewellery or souvenirs made of Burmese[…]
Dyanmite explosions injure miners in Hpakant
Locals from Kachin State say they are worried about their safety after a villager was injured by dynamite blasts in the Hpakant jade mines.
Govt adviser calls for ban on overland Chinese visitors
We need to control those coming to Myanmar, and make sure they follow the rules.”
Interview Kachin Lead Story News
Interviewing Khon Ja, the voice of Kachin
DVB sat down with Khon Ja to reflect on the year gone by and what the outlook for 2018 looks like in Kachin State.
US lawmakers target Burmese military with new sanctions
United States lawmakers have proposed a bill including sanctions and travel restrictions of Burmese military officials.
Over 2 billion kyats in illicit narcotics seized in Hpakant
Police seize a stash of illicit narcotics worth 1.6 billion kyats ($1.17 million) and arrest two suspects at a checkpoint in Lel Pyin village, part of Kachin State’s Hpakant Township, with a follow-up search of the accused possessors’ property yielding an additional 700 million kyats in drugs.
Arakan crisis dents Burma’s hopes of Western investment boom
Western trade and investment in Burma is small, but there were hopes that reforms would prise open an economy stunted by international sanctions and decades of mismanagement under military rule. That now appears to be on hold.
Drugs Features Lead Story News Women's Issues
In Burma, female drug addicts searching for help have few options
Most state-run drug rehabilitation centres in Burma accept men only.
Upheaval in Tanai as treasures below and message from above converge
No one here thought that leaflets could destroy riches and their possessors’ future plans so quickly. But in Burma, leaflets are not only capable of doing that — they can lead to death.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story News
Clashes in Tanai as deadline to clear mines passes
As a deadline passed for civilians to evacuate gold and amber mines in Kachin State’s Tanai Township, more fighting between government troops and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) flared near the mining sites on Friday.
Hpakant residents band together in wake of murders
Neighbourhood watch groups are formed in the lawless jade mining town following two murders in broad daylight.
Wa State suffers as fewer Chinese come to party
A crackdown on graft in China is having trans-border implications for entrepreneurs in the self-proclaimed Wa State as business slows with a tightening of visa regulations.
Crime Ethnic issues Kachin Lead Story News
Pair of ethnic ‘Red Shan’ men shot dead in Hpakant
An ethnic Tai-Leng, or “Red Shan,” schoolteacher was reportedly shot dead by unknown assailants on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the murder of a fellow Red Shan man in similar fashion, both in the Kachin State jade mining township of Hpakant.
Human Rights IDPs Kachin Lead Story News
UN special rapporteur denied visits to Kachin State conflict sites
Yanghee Lee was denied access to conflict-wracked Hpakant and Waignmaw townships in Kachin State this week as she undertakes her fifth visit to Burma in her capacity as UN special rapporteur on the country’s human rights situation.
Chin Farmers Feature Lead Story
Can agriculture, small loans lead Chin State to a fertile future?
Challenges abound, but so too does hope that the right set of policies can spur development in this remote part of Burma.
Conflict Kachin Lead Story Natural resources News
Army mouthpiece blames Hpakant fire on KIA
Members of the Kachin Independence Army started a fire that destroyed a warehouse in Hpakant Township on Wednesday, according to Myawady News.
