Enormous Jade Boulder Found In Myanmar: The Second Largest Jadeite Ever Unearthed

The enormous jadeite boulder was discovered in October 2016. Miners in northern Myanmar uncovered a colossal jadeite jade boulder, weighing nearly 175 tonnes. Burma, now known as Myanmar, is the world's largest producer of natural jadeite gemstone. It is the source of 70% of the world's most exquisite quality jade. This 50 billion dollar a year industry makes half of the country's GDP.

Jade is a durable and an important precious gemstone that was used in many ancient civilisations as tools, weapons and ornaments. In recent centuries, jade is worn as precious jewellery. It is highly prized in neighbouring China. In Chinese culture, jadeite is a symbol of wealth, good health and luck. Most of the jadeite mined in Myanmar are exported to China, where it is known as the "Stone of Heaven."

The giant-sized jade stone found in Burma has a height of 4.3m (14ft), a length of 5.8m (19ft), and weights approximately 175 tonnes. According to news reports, this rough jadeite boulder could be worth an estimated $170M USD. 

The boulder was discovered at a depth of 60m inside a mountain in Kachin state, located in the northern part of the country where all of the jadeite of the country is mined. It's the second-largest Burmese jadeite stone in the world, after the carved jade statue of Buddha in China, which weighs around 260 tonnes.

U Soe Tint, a local politician party member compared the size of the jade boulder to the size of two small houses. He said, "I assume that it is a present for the fate of our citizens, the government, and our party as it was discovered in the time of our government. It's a very good sign for us."

Although the discovery was made, the boulder remained in the same position as it was found for quite some time. It was so large it couldn't be transported right away without adequate machinery to lift it. No further updates have been reported since and the current whereabouts or status of the stone are unknown. Though if one were to guess, it's probably somewhere in China by now.