Giant 11,000 carat ruby discovered in Myanmar

A giant 11,000-carat ruby has been discovered in Myanmar’s war-torn Mogok valley.

The enormous gem weighs 2.2kg (4.8lbs), or as much as a small dog.

This is one of the largest gems ever discovered in the country, which is famous for its ruby production.

With its rare ‘pigeon blood’ colouration and high quality, Myanmar’s military-backed government says it could be the most valuable ever found.

While it is half the size of the record-breaking 21,450 carat ruby found in the same area in 1996, this newly discovered stone is worth even more.

Although the stone is yet to be valued, high-quality rubies can be worth up to $1,000,000 per carat, according to the International Gem Society.

According to the government, the ruby is ‘exceptionally large, rare, and difficult to find’.

They add: ‘The giant ruby has a purplish-red colour with yellowish undertones and is considered to have a high-quality colour grade.’

A giant 11,000-carat ruby has been discovered in Myanmar, weighing about as much as a small dog 

Rubies, which are naturally forming crystals of red corundum, get much of their value from their size, colour, and clarity.

Most rubies are around one or two carats, with gems weighing three carats or more being exceptionally rare.

This makes larger gems worth far more than they would be based on the quality of the stone alone.

According to gemstone traders Gemdaia: ‘The most desirable and highly prized rubies are those that possess an intense, deeply saturated red colour.

‘The purer and more intense the colour, the higher the value of a ruby.’

The most valuable rubies of all are those known as ‘pigeon blood’ stones, which have a vibrant, almost fluorescent red colour.

The vast majority of these pricey stones are found in Myanmar, which produces around 90 per cent of the world’s rubies.

These stones are typically found in the valleys of Mogok and Mong Hsu, which have been mined for precious gems for over 800 years.

The 2.2kg (4.8lbs) ruby is not the largest ever found in Myanmar, but its colour and quality mean it could be the most valuable 

The country also has a long history of producing some of the world’s biggest rubies.

These include the 2,789-carat ‘NaSaKa Ruby’ found in 2022, a 21,450-carat gemstone unearthed in 1996, and the 496-carat ‘State Law and Order Restoration Committee Ruby’ found in 1990.

Historically, gemstones of this size and quality can fetch tens of millions at auction.

For example, the Oppenheimer Blue – a blue diamond weighing 14.62 carats – sold for $57.5million (£42.8million) in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Williamson Pink Star (11.15 carats) sold for an impressive $57.7million (£43million) in 2022.

The Myanmar government added: ‘Although the ruby discovered in 1996 was the largest in terms of weight, the recently discovered ruby is considered more valuable because its colour and quality are superior in comparison.’

All of these enormous gems were found in the Mogok region, which has recently seen bloody fighting between government and ethnic minority forces.

The region was seized in 2024 by the Ta´ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), a guerrilla force representing the Palaung ethnic minority.

Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing was presented with the outstanding gem after it was found in the warn-torn Mogok valley region

While the TNLA had been operating the mines, control was given back over to the army last year in a China-brokered treaty.

The security of Myanmar’s mining areas has been especially fraught in recent years as warlords battle for control over the lucrative gemstone regions.

These gems are either sold legitimately or smuggled out of the country to fund the conflict.

Human rights organisations such as the Britain-based group Global Witness have called on jewellers to stop purchasing rubies from Myanmar, as these have served as a vital stream of revenue for the oppressive military government.

HOW DO SCIENTISTS ‘GROW’ DIAMONDS IN A LABORATORY?

Diamonds fetch their lofty price tags because they form over millions of years under high pressures and temperatures deep within the Earth’s crust.

But a number of companies are now growing the gems in laboratories across the world, threatening to shake up the diamond industry.

A small ‘seed’ diamond acts as a scaffolding for the process.

Scientists first place this seed into a vacuum chamber to remove impurities from the air.

Lab-made gems are threatening to upset the diamond industry, with several companies worldwide now growing the stones for jewellery. In this image Pure Grown Diamonds CEO Lisa Bissell unveils a lab-cultivated diamond in New York in 2015

They then funnel hydrogen and methane gas heat to 3,000°C (5,400°F) into the chamber to create a highly charged gas known as plasma. 

The gases rapidly break apart, releasing carbon atoms from the methane that collected on the diamond ‘seed’.

These atoms naturally copy the crystal structure of organic diamond, which is also made up of carbon atoms.

Each artificial stone grows at a rate of around 0.0002 inches (0.006mm) an hour.