Mogok

For the Singaporean film, see Mogok (film).

Mogok မိုးကုတ် Mogoke[1]
Mogok Location of Mandalay, Burma
Coordinates: 22°55′N 96°30′E / 22.917°N 96.5°E / 22.917; 96.5Coordinates: 22°55′N 96°30′E / 22.917°N 96.5°E / 22.917; 96.5
Country	Burma
Region	Mandalay Region
District	Pyin Oo Lwin
Township	Mogok
Government
- Mayor
Population (2005)
- Total	150,000
- Religions	Theravada Buddhism
Time zone	MST (UTC+6.30)

Mogok (Burmese: မိုးကုတ်, pronounced [móɡouʔ]; Shan: မိူင်းၵုတ်ႈ) is a city in the Pyin Oo Lwin District of the Mandalay Region of Burma (Myanmar), located 200 km north of Mandalay and 148 km northeast of Shwebo.

Geography

At 1170 meters in elevation, the city has fairly temperate climate year-round, and is home to mostly Bamar, with large minorities of Shan, Lisu, Palaung, Karen ethnic groups, as well as Chinese, Indians and Gurkha.

Repute for gemstones

Mogok and other villages nearby have been famous since ancient times for its gemstones, especially ruby and sapphire, but semi-precious stones such as lapis lazuli, garnet, moonstone, peridot and chrysoberyl are also found. The gems are found in alluvial marble gravels by means of panning, tunneling and digging pits by hand. There is little mechanization of the mining. The gravels derive from the metamorphosed limestones (marbles) of the Mogok metamorphic belt.^[2][3]

Gems are sold in markets in Mogok; however, foreigners require special permits to visit the town, and purchase/export of gems from Myanmar at non-government licensed dealers is illegal.

90% of the world's rubies come from Myanmar. The red stones from there are prized for their purity and hue. Thailand buys the majority of Myanmar's gems. The "Valley of Rubies", the mountainous Mogok area, 200 km (120 mi) north of Mandalay, is noted for its rare pigeon's blood rubies and blue sapphires. Working conditions in the mines, however, are said to be horrendous. Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma stated that mining operators used drugs on employees to improve productivity, with needles shared, raising the risk of HIV infection: "These rubies are red with the blood of young people." Brian Leber (jeweler who founded The Jewellers' Burma Relief Project) stated that "for the time being," Burmese gems should not be something to be proud of.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ "Pyin Oo Lwin / Mogoke Map" Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU)
2. ^ Searle, D. L.; Ba Than Haq (1964) "The Mogok belt of Burma and its relationship to the Himalayan orogeny" Proceedings of the 22nd International Geological Conference, Delhi 11: pp. 132–161
3. ^ Iyer, Lakshinarayanpuran Anantkrishna Narayana (1953) The geology and gem-stones of the Mogok Stone Tract, Burma Geological Survey of India Memoir 82, Government of India Press, Calcutta, OCLC 6526679 ; reprinted in 2007 by White Lotus, Bangkok, ISBN 978-974-480-123-4
4. ^ Crimmins, Carmel (7 October 2007) "Move over, blood diamonds" Reuters, from Internet Archive of 16 February 2008

External links

• The Burma Ruby Mines, Ltd.