Ruby Mining

The mining of Ruby gemstones

To extract the precious stones such as rubies differs not much from that of most metals and industrial minerals.


Unlike rough gem materials, which are generally useless unless of high clarity and cuttable sizes, industrial minerals can be processed to extract the desired product. By means of crushing and melting, it is possible to separate usable material from the waste, or 'slag', as it is known. Gems are far too fragile to withstand such abuse and thus, out of a mine's entire yield, only a tiny fraction is of sufficient size and quality to warrant cutting. Defects in clarity and color and insufficient size preclude the use of the remainder.

At a ruby mine today

The job is done almost the same way as thousand years ago. Gemstone mining is sophisticated in some countries in others not. Mining in Mogok Myanmar is such a place, the miners just wash through the earth and gravel, clean them roughly put them on a table and now gem hunting begins as it is visible at the pictures of rubies, here is also information on the precious stones. 

Rubies and sapphires very often are found in the same layer since they are more or less the same material only with a different inclusion which gives the color, in general, the rule is all having a corundum stone with red color it's a ruby and with any other hue, the gem is categorized as sapphire. 

Mining gemstones at Mogok in upper Myanmar about 120km north of Mandalay is also a showcase of the different ethnic groups in Myanmar. There are Lisu, Shan, Bamar, Ghurkas, Chinese and many other who do the hard digging work. The Chinese usually are the gem trader who buys them and makes the real money. The question is why? The answer is in the clan structure of Chinese society which enables to raise lots of money quickly when needed. Since to pay large sums of money for rubies (similar with jade) the only persons able to do so are Chinese. They have a very efficient money lending system based on trust which is better working as the usual Banks in western countries.

Burmese rubies are highly sought after

The demand from all over the world for good quality and some unique features visible under "black light" plus not many inclusions. Most Mogok gems have a good color and here is more or less the only place in the world where from time to time bigger sized gems (over about 10mm) of good quality are found, this is very rare and because of this the finder usually gets rich instantly.

More about Mogok is here

Because of the scarcity of ruby gem-quality materials, various attempts have been made over the years to improve the appearance and/or stability of inferior samples, heating or irradiation to improve the color and oiling to hide fractures are but the tip of the gem treatment 'iceberg', a virtual potpourri of different recipes aimed at increasing the beauty and sale-ability of the., gems and ornamental stones.

Ruby treatments

People have, in part, solved the dilemma with regard to the inability to process lower grades, as is done for industrial minerals. Thus, treatments allow a larger percentage of the total production to be utilized as gemstones, in effect finishing the job that nature started. The legitimacy of certain treatments has in recent years been called into question because, in many cases, the treated gems cannot be distinguished from those which are completely genuine.

This has created an unfortunate situation, with color and/or clarity enhanced ruby stones competing directly against the natural product. Although many treatments have been practiced for centuries modern technology today produces far more dramatic changes than those obtained in the past. The question then arises of where to draw the line between acceptable treatment and simply producing a totally synthetic gem. This issue of whether or not treated gems should be sold as natural gems is currently an item of hot debate in trade circles.

Beside of Mogok

Another mining area has been established in 1992 this is Mong Hsu Gemsland. This was a small town in upper Myanmar and after the declaration by the government a bonanza was started now there are already more than 500 companies working in gem mining gems at around 2000 plots. 

The main gemstone bearing area is at Loi Sating Htawk mountain, about 12 km from Mong Hsu town. Usually, the government grants mining rights on around 60 sqm for 3 years. Higher prices are asked for plots reputed for high-quality gemstones. 

High valued mines

They are at Loi Saung Htauk Hill with ruby bearing upper paleozoic marble, large holes are dug up to extract these marbles which are broken apart to extract rubies. Rough rubies obtained from these "Ge Twin" or holes are highly valued.

Miners also dug up "Lu Twin" which sometimes are around hundred meters deep. These ' Lu Twins ' are naturally created caverns of limestones. The rubies fall away from marbles due to erosion from underground streams. Pieces of rubies may be embedded in the sands and pebbles of these 'Lu Twins'.


Many precious stones were dug up from "Lu Twins" but prices offered are lower than those obtained from marbles. "Ge Twins" and " Lu Twins" are dug up over the hills while some people search for rubies in the stream at the base of the hill. Everything looks a bit crude but lots of money is being made in this areas. 

They virtually just bring the hills down, which finally won't matter anyway since this are simple bare hills, no much vegetation and ecologically only minimum damages are done there since there is practically nothing of value around just scrub. Actually, they extract plenty of raw ruby stones every day but at Mong Hsu the quality of the gems is not very good. It finally means all red stones found are thrown into the oven for heat treatment.