The third, Myanmar is strategically located at the advantageous merging point of cultural and ecological zones of Asia. The country is blessed with a variety of biological diversity and ethnicity. The country is a treasure of natural resources which is not fully explored due to the political situation in the country. Poverty and conflicting political scenario in the country has led to some exploitation of its natural resources of gems, minerals, petroleum and teak woods that are in demand all over the world. Kachin state in Myanmar holds the distinction as one of the only two sources in the world to have imperial jade as well as some of the finest sapphires, rubies, diamond and amber in the world.
It is reported that gold deposits are widely scattered in the ethnic areas of Myanmar and some large scale excavations to unearth gold is in the exploration stages.
The statistics provided by the Myanmar Government mostly provide information of mining in the areas where ethnic Burmese live in majority. But the statistics do not provide information on production of Gold in Shwegyin, in Karen State (which literally means ‘gold mining’) due to political reasons.
However, there were 18.2 metric tons of gold reserve projected by the United Nations in 1996, and it is considered to be of very lower estimate, in the absence of gold reserves fully recorded by the country.