Gallery: Startling Photos Capture Myanmar's $31 Billion Jade Mining Industry

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    Illegal miners hack away with iron picks and drills on the hunt for jade.
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    Company workers discover a jade boulder weighing almost 200 tons and worth an estimated $170 million at a licensed mining site in Hpakant, Kachin, Myanmar.
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    Illegal miners crawl over a hillside at a company mining waste site.
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    A team of illegal miners hired by a local trader work at a jade mine in Hpakant, Kachin, Myanmar.
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    A massive landslide buried over 100 people at a mining site in Hpakant in November 2015. Here, locals await news as the search for bodies continues.
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    Miners bike beside a jade mining truck in Hpakant, Kachin, Myanmar.
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    A miner injects heroin at a “shooting gallery” at a jade mining site in Hpakant, Kachin, Myanmar. Miners pay as little as $2 for a shot, and authorities turn a blind eye.
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    A group of illegal miners take to the water trying to escape arrest by soldiers at mining site.
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    Some illegal miners work during the day, while others work at night.
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    Headlamps light the nightly search for jade at a company mining waste site in Hpakant, Kachin.
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    Illegal miners take a break at a company mining waste site.
  • An injured jade miner Hpakant Kachin State. July 25 2014.
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    An injured jade miner on crutches.
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    A Chinese girl inspects a stone at a jade market in Hpakant.
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    Black market jade traders often rent hotel rooms in Yin Jiang, China to store the jade they smuggle across the border before it’s picked up by customers.
  • A jade jewellery store in Yin Jiang China June 17 2015.
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    Jade from Kachin, Myanmar is often sold in jewelry shops in China, like this one in Yin Jiang.
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