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Sec. III, Ch. 2: The Ruby Mines of Burma

Sec. III, Ch. 2: The Ruby Mines of Burma Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 2: The Ruby Mines of Burma Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
       
     
 
The Ruby Mines of Burma.
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the mines for nearly two years as Engineer-in-Chief to the Burma Mining Company, Ltd., and thus obtained a very intimate knowledge of the native methods of working.
The Ruby mines District of "Upper Burma" is a large political division, bordering on the left or eastern bank of the Irrawaddy, but the " Stone-tract " proper, in which mining for Rubies is carried on as a recognized industry, extends over an area of about 400 square miles, having as its trade-centre the native town of Mogok with the neighbouring townships of Kyat-pyin and Kathe. The " Stone-tract " is mountainous throughout, but between it and the Irrawaddy there is a stretch of low jungle country, or terai, some 30 miles wide, in the flat portion of which, although not included in the " Stone-tract," some mining on a small scale is carried on by the natives.
Mogok itself lies about 100 miles north of Mandalay and 61 miles by road, east of the Irrawaddy. It is sit­uated in the more easterly portion of the " Stone-tract, ' but it is the chief centre of the mining-industry..
The country may .be described as a dense mass of forest-jungle, rising range after range above the terai, and broken only here and there by alluvial patches at the bottom of the valleys, cultivated for rice. The ele­vation of Mogok itself is nearly 400 feet above sea level, and the mountain-peaks about it run up to nearly double this.
The Mines may be divided into three classes :— The Twin-lone or pit, Hmyaw-dwin or hillside working and the Loo-divin, the cavern or cave-mine. The first system is practised in the valley-bottom in the dry weather. The bottoms are perfectly flat, and below an upper stratum of alluvial soil, at a depth varying from 15 to 20 feet, is found the bed of " byôn" or Ruby-bearing earth.
 
 

 
       
Sec. III, Ch. 2: The Ruby Mines of Burma Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 2: The Ruby Mines of Burma
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