Spinels in Medicine Harbor

We did not know where we were going. With no official maps, we had to put our faith in the hands of our guide. Frantic GPS sessions were taking place near every small village on the way. We did try to get the names of these villages from our driver, but in Burma, names are in the mouth of the beholder. In a country where so many dialects are spoken you can not expect names to sound the same. We knew that we were on the Myitkyina (Micheena), Hpakarnt ( Fhackam) trail, and that there were elephants waiting for us at a small restaurant in Nanyarziek. Sure enough, the elephants were there, and there was a large green and white board welcoming us to Namya According to our hosts, we arrived at Namyaziek. Namya - in Shan language means medicine, Ziek - in Burmese, a Harbor. So there we were, at Medicine Harbor, on our way to the northern part of Namya. It took us nearly three hours to cross trough deep muddy fields on the back of patient and strong elephants, and reach the first village of Zeibu. Situated on a low hill, in that early afternoon, the village was quiet. All we could hear was the remote sound of the mud pumps.

According to the " the Mineral Resources Of Burma" by N.M Penzer (1922) - "the tract was first examined by Warth In 1895. He estimates that the actual area over which the gems are found in the alluvial deposit was 10 square miles only. He stated that rubies, sapphires, and spinels are obtained from the detritus afforded by the disintegration of crystalline limestone surrounded by intrusive masses of granite. The most recent and the fullest description of this tract was given by Bleeck in 1908. He described the geological features of the country between Manwee (few miles NE) and Naniazeik as being of a simple nature, the mountain ranges between the two villages consisting only of granite and marble. At the foot of the hills the alluvial soil is consists of the detritus of both the granite and marble. This detritus is called "byon" wherever it is rich in rubies. Samples of the river gravel and the " byon" examined by Tanatar and Bleeck were taken from both the mountain stream near Manwee and at Naniazeik . The constitute minerals of gravel from the former locality proved to be quartz, feldspar, phlogopite, chlorite, garnet, spinel and corundum. Of the above, the most abundant are the spinels which occur in octahedral crystal crystals up to ½ " is diameter. The colors of the Spinel vary with the pellucidity from almost an opaque dark green to bright translucent red. The Corundum occurs in far smaller quantities. Bleek found three pieces one of which was nearly ¾" in diameter. The color of this stone was dull pink while the two smaller pieces displayed bright and dark red colors respectively. The byon at Naniazeik is a light color clay or send, consisting of the following minerals: quartz, orthoclase, pholgopite, chlorite, calcite, plagioclase, spinel and ruby.

Neither Spinel nor Ruby appears to be abundant, although Bleek states that the small chips of rubies are of most beautiful color, and are similar to those of  Mogok and Sagyin Hills. No corundum has been traced in the marble at Naniazeik and Manwee, although it is most probable that it is contained in the same. The limestone considered by the above authorities to have been originally calcareous sedimentary deposits, and to have been altered while in a state of intense local compression due to orographic movements, by contact with the intrusive granite. With the production of corundum and other accessory minerals at those places where the pressure was most sever." -

The operations in the area have started just a few months ago (early 2001) as no one was mining in Namya since the British occupation. It appears that there was no serious exploration before the actual mining took place. Methods and structures of the production areas show that the cautious investors are simply trying out their luck. We could not get any reliable numbers regarding the quantities being mined, but we could figure out that there are no commercial quantities yet. We did see however some of spinel being mined in the area. It is bright hot pink, and unlike the material from Mogok, it is quite consistent in its color. Namya material is fetching a very high price in Yangon these days, in our estimation at least three times as high as Mogok Material.

It looks like investors are trying to recuperate their initial capital as fast as they can. Due to the logistics of Namya, mining costs versus the quantities found are pushing prices even higher. True, Burma is one place where fortune telling is an every day practice but forecasting the future is a challenge. But in accordance to our experience in the past, market demand dictates the scope of mining operations. Spinel popularity is now at all-times high, and so it is safe to predict that Namya area, once is over the experimental gambling stage, will be an important source for high quality Spinels and Rubies.

Bangkok, October 2001

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