Overview
- Miners near Mogok found an 11,000-carat rough ruby in mid-April, and the stone was later shown to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw.
- Though lighter than a 21,450-carat stone from 1996, officials say this ruby is more valuable because its purplish-red color is strong, its transparency is moderate, and the rough is untreated.
- Myanmar supplies up to 90 percent of the world’s rubies, and rights groups say gem profits fund the military as well as ethnic armed groups that run mines and routes.
- Control of Mogok shifted after the Ta’ang National Liberation Army seized the town in July 2024, then a China-brokered ceasefire returned authority to the army late last year.
- The government has not said if the rough will be cut, kept, or sold, and sanctions plus smuggling into Thailand and China could decide where it is traded.