Gold rush near new capital

No.10 - 4/2007
23 April 2007
General
 
Gold rush near new capital
 
At least half a million people have been digging gold at the Mohti Mohmi mountain range east of Yamethin, 55 miles north of the new capital in Pyinmana, according to Shan businessmen.
 
The mountain range lying between Yamethin and the Paunglaung is full of professional and amateur gold miners who are out to make a fast kyat, after paying protection to police and the mining department officials.
 
"For one hour of digging, you have to pay 4 million kyat ($ 3,200)", said a resident of  the northern Shan State town of Mongyai. "That's how rich the soil is."
 
One month "concessions" of 100 square feet lots meanwhile would cost as much as 5-70 million kyat ($4,000-56,000), depending on the proven yield of each site, added another from southern Shan State. It is not unusual to hear diggers boasting of getting 4-5 kyat (1 kyat=16.6 gm) of gold from just one backpack of earth, they say.
 
The Canada-based Ivanhoe Mines had wanted the range, but as it is just next door to the new capital, the security-conscious generals had turned down their proposals. "With the junta leaders hemming and hawing, the place has fallen into the hands of the people," said the southerner. "We hope they keep procrastinating."
 
Meanwhile, most of the companies working in Thabeikkyin, another area teeming with gold mines, have closed shop on the orders of the military, following discovery of uranium deposits, said his friend from the north.