Myanmar government will issue new permits for gem mining, including areas near conflict zones: application deadline is 18 January 2016

The government intends to issue new permits for gem mining, including areas near conflict zones, despite complaints from the public about the industry.

The Ministry of Mining invited applications for new permits in August 2015, with a deadline of November 16 that year. It has extended the deadline to January 18 of this year, and says permits will be issued for areas that include jade-rich Hkamti in Sagaing Region, as well as MongShu and Mawhan in Shan State.

The township of Mine Shu/MongShu, in central Shan State, is well known for its rubies and was the scene of at times intense fighting between the Tatmadaw and forces of the Shan State Progressive Party from early October until late November last year when some 10,000 civilians were displaced.

Permits for other locations will be issued after state and private companies investigate the relevant areas.

The announcement that the government will issue new permits comes less than two months after a landslide at a jade mine in the northern township of Hpakant, in Kachin State, killed over 100 people. There has been much public criticism about the intensity of jade mining in Hpakant – the source of up to 90 percent of the world’s jadeite.

U ThanTunAung, deputy minister for mining, proposed in the wake of the Hpakant disaster that the mining in Lone Khin and Hpakant be shut down completely, according to a letter from Thura U Shwe Mann, Speaker of the PyidaungsuHluttaw, to the president, which was published on December 29, 2015. U ThanTunAung also proposed that the police take action to investigate the disaster, and that martial law be declared for “administration, regional peace and stability and rule of law”.

Members of parliament, however, were concerned that these steps risked hurting local and migrant workers, and could threaten peace. They recommended that President U TheinSein review these proposals, to help determine what steps the Union government should take.

U ThetKhine, assistant director of Myanmar Gems Enterprise – part of the Ministry of Mining – told The Myanmar Times that the projects in Kachin would not stop.

The deadline for new mining applications was extended in order to give people time to prepare the required documentation, he added. Applicants wishing to mine in one of the designated areas, or in areas outside them, have to submit their proposals to the Myanmar Gems Enterprise head office in Nay Pyi Taw. Along with their proposal, applicants must also make an advance payment of K1 million (US$770) and pay the fees for field-work in advance.

U Ye Htun, a representative of the PyithuHluttaw, questioned if the government would allow as many new companies in the new round of permit applications as it had done in previous rounds.

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