Mogok, Gem city in the clouds

At the beginning of time, so the legend goes, the giant serpent Naga laid three eggs.

From the first, came the King of Pagan, Pyusawati. From the second, the Emperor of China. Out of the last egg, all the Rubies. Mogok Stone Tract is well known as a source of excellent rubies and sapphires, among other stones. Some believed this mountainous area to be the mythological "Valley of the Serpents" where large, clear gems lay in a deep and inaccessible ravine. The only way to get these fine gems was to throw lamb carcasses down to its floor, let the vultures and the serpents battle over them and then pick up the meat, which would then have the gems stuck to it.

Red Stones, the "Flesh and Blood of Mother Earth", are unusually common in this area (700 kilometers north of Rangoon) where a range of high hills and deep valleys form a natural border with the Shan Plateau. The Kyatpyin, Kathe and Luda Valleys enclose the major mining areas. The reputation of these areas as a source of fine gems was well documented in many of the reports written by early travelers and missionaries. One Nicolo Di Conti, who visited the kingdom of Ava, had described its King riding on his white elephant adorned with golden necklaces set with sparkling gemstones (1419-44). Later on, in 1568, an Englishman named Ralph Fitch gave the following description: "Capalan (Kyapyin) is the place where they find the rubies, sapphires, and spinels. It standeth six days journey from Ava into the kingdom of Pegu. There are many great high hilles out of which they digge them. None may go to the pits but only those which digge them" (1586, in Hakluyat).

A few years later in 1597, the Burmese King Nuha Thura Maha Dhama Yaza annexed the area. The previous ruler, a Shan prince, received the unimportant city of Momeit in exchange. The deal probably reflected the balance of power between the two leaders. The Burmese Monarch ruled the area in a greedy and ruthless manner, inflicting heavy taxes on the miners and cruel punishments for those who didnt obey. The story of Nga Mauks ruby is an example of this prevailing situation. Nga Mauk was a simple miner until one day he found a huge ruby. He cut the stone in two equal pieces: one, as the law required, went straight to the King; the other half he secretly sold to a local merchant. When the King found out, he gathered the villagers of the area and ordered them all to be burned alive. With time, production in the area declined. Having no incentives to justify hard physical work and no change in the inhumane and mindless policies of the ruling elite, many miners left Mogok.

In 1886, three hundred years after the visit of Ralph Fitch (who was, incidentally, the first Englishman to visit Mogok), the British Army took over Upper Burma and, three years later, the "Burma Ruby Mines Company" was established. Edwin Streeter, a jeweler from London, was the driving force behind the group that included some prominent financial figures of the time, such as the Rothschilds of London. High expectations eventually met with a humid and muddy reality as the area lies isolated in the middle of harsh, mountainous jungle. However, in those days, the British were at the peak of their colonial form. Realizing that the richest deposits were under the village of Mogok itself, they proceeded to relocate the entire village and followed up by building a 400-kilowatt hydroelectric station,(in later days electricity was the only product of the "Burma Ruby Mines Company"), five washing mills and a mile-long tunnel carved out of solid rock. The tunnel was build to prevent seasonal floods in the area of the workings. The whole area was bustling with activity, reaching as far as Kyatapin, some 12 kilometers from Mogok. Thousands of tons of earth were processed through the washing mills daily.

The year 1908 marked the beginning of a down turn. The appearance of the first man-made stone, the "Verneuil Synthetic Ruby", spread panic among ruby buyers. Sales declined dramatically. Global slowdown, caused by the First World War, took its toll as well and the "Burma Ruby Mines Company" suffered heavy losses. Later, the rainy season of 1929 was unusually heavy. Torrential rains destroyed most of the electrical equipment and the tunnel. The company survived until 1931, when it returned its lease to the government. In the aftermath of the collapse, fingers were pointed at the management which, at one stage, had been running the mining operations with no discernible logic: mining schedules and locations were chosen randomly. Others openly blamed a rising competitor, De Beers, for manipulating the situation. Massive production of fine rubies could be a serious hindrance to their promotion campaign of diamonds.

Mogok went back to the old methods and native mining continued as usual. It stopped completely however for three years (between 1942-1945), when the Japanese occupied Burma. After the Second World War, native mining flourished again, but then nearly came to a halt in 1963 when the Burmese governments began its nationalization program for all of the countrys principal industries, including mining.

In the heyday of socialism, private dealing or even possession of gemstones was illegal. At the mines, army officers and generals replaced experienced operators. The results were terrible: overall output declined to nil, the area was in total disarray. Illegal mining and smuggling increased. Things started to change after the civil uprising of 1988. An ancient rival, Thailand, cashing in on the foreign investment and know-how, which was helping to liberalize its economic policies, started showing signs of growing economic success. This, and the fact that the Thai ruby industry was using a hefty slice of Mong Hsu material, caused the old generals to think twice about the benefits of isolationism. These days, the "Myanmar Gems Enterprise" is the official government body in charge of overseeing the gem industry in Myanmar (Burma). Under their administration, government policies covering mining and gem exporting have begun to improve the situation (although not sufficiently). However, if they maintain this course, it might be possible to see the industry growing in the right direction and then, the secret marvels of Mogok, an ancient dormant beauty, may one day be revealed again to the world.

This short article was based mainly on a new book "Ruby & Sapphire" by Richard W. Hughes.

The book weights 2.4 kilos and is well worth its weight in rubies and spinels. Detailed, accurate, rich and colorful, it contains thousand of references and hundreds of excellent photos. Those familiar with Hughes writing will find here yet another example of his peculiar and sometimes controversial sense of humor. Those who are not, should not miss this chance to make his acquaintance.

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