"Mogu? Ruby?"
Hearing this, Xiao Bai was stunned for a moment.
"Yeah, Mogu in the Burma area is actually rich in various gemstones, but Mogu is more dangerous. That place is a gray area, and sometimes small-scale wars occur."
“In Myanmar, mining areas are called black zones, and areas adjacent to mining areas such as Mogok are considered gray zones, while the capital and Mandalay are relatively safe.”
"But we are led by that guide, and her family has a military background, so our safety usually won't be a big problem."
Hearing this, Xiao Bai nodded.
"By the way, are there any gems you want to buy?"
“If you purchase it from an individual, you need to prepare some cash in Kyat.”
At this moment, Xiao Bai suddenly felt a little lucky that Zhou Shanshan came with him this time.
Otherwise, he really doesn't know anything about the information here.
The next day, after exchanging some cash with Zhou Shanshan, the two of them took a car to Mogu under the guidance of the guide.
After a difficult journey, the two of them successfully arrived at Mogu in the afternoon.
After checking into the hotel room, Xiao Bai, the guide and Zhou Shanshan came to the vicinity of the mining area.
"You two, ahead is Mo Valley, the world's most famous gem valley."
"You two can take a look at the mountain in front of us. The white area on the mountain is the area that has been marked as a mining area."
"The world's largest rubies are produced in the mountainous mining area in front of you. Sapphires and some other gemstones are also produced here."
"I will take you two to meet the largest mine owner in our local area later. He is also my uncle."
"The output of gemstones from the mining area he controls accounts for more than half of the total output of Mogu."
Hearing this, Xiao Bai couldn't help but be a little surprised, more than half, is it so powerful?
"In the past two years, our country's gem mines, like jade mines, have been under state control, and more than 90% of them have been shut down."
"In the past, the mining area controlled by my uncle could produce more than one ton of red and sapphire in a month and sell it to the world. In the past few years, most of the mines have been shut down, and only one mining area continues to be mined. .”
"The current annual output is only a few dozen kilograms. It can be said that most of it has dropped sharply compared to before, and the shrinkage is particularly severe."
"So the price of rubies and sapphires has been increasing year by year in the past two years, and there is nothing we can do about it."
"Actually, although it sounds like the output is only a few dozen kilograms, it is actually a lot. After all, gemstones are measured in terms of carats, and 5 carats is 1 gram. But most of these dozens of kilograms of gemstones are of very high quality. generally."
“The treasures and large-carat gemstones that can really fetch high prices are only a very small part of them.”
"Actually, there used to be a lot of ruby and sapphire merchants here, but due to the shrinkage of production in the past two years, they have become very few."
While talking, the two of them were taken to the gem trading market.
"This is divided into a morning market, an afternoon market and a night market. Merchants will basically choose to search for gems here. Most of the gems here are raw ore. Of course, there are also some heat-treated ores. It all depends on one's discernment. .”
"Actually, foreigners are not allowed to enter or leave Mogu in theory. However, when I came here, I took the two of them to apply for tourist visas. With this visa, you can enter Mogu."
While talking, the little tour guide helped carry the cash and found an empty stall to sit down.
"You two, you can take a look here this afternoon. If you have any gems you like, you can trade them. If you don't have any, it doesn't matter."
"After five o'clock in the evening, I will take you two to my uncle's place to see the goods."
After listening to the tour guide, Xiao Bai glanced at Zhou Shanshan.
"Well, I really don't understand gems at all..."
Hearing Xiao Bai's words, Zhou Shanshan chuckled: "You don't need to understand this thing, you are not in this business."
"Just see if there is anything you like, and it will suit your eyes. Just remember one thing, if you don't like a gemstone and think it doesn't look good, then don't buy it no matter how cheap the price is."
"If a gemstone cannot even look good at the most basic level, then there is no point in talking about its quality and quality."
"Actually, what the tour guide just said is not entirely correct, because the world-recognized gemstone source of the highest quality is in Kashmir."
"Myanmar is second, followed by Sri Lanka in third place."
"The characteristics of red sapphires produced in different regions are actually different, and the price gap between different producing regions is also relatively large. In terms of jade, the sapphires produced in Mogu are better than other places."
"Cleaner and purer, but the sapphires from Kashmir include the cornflower sapphire, which is particularly valuable, also called royal blue. That kind of value is very high."
"Actually, my main goal here is not ruby sapphire, but spinel, but I don't know if I can buy the right one."
While the two were talking, a local man walked up to their small table.
"Boss, do you want to see Sapphire?"
Hearing the man's somewhat broken Chinese, Zhou Shanshan smiled and nodded, then took out a small electronic scale.
After a while, Zhou Shanshan took the gem handed over to him, carefully observed the clarity and cut with a magnifying glass, and then placed it on the electronic scale.
"3.6 carats. After seeing the weight of this sapphire, Zhou Shanshan raised his head slightly and looked at the person in front of him."
"what price?"
"30 million."
When Xiao Bai heard this quotation, his pupils shrank suddenly, what the hell? 30 million?
After a moment, he realized, Kyat.
The official exchange rate is about 1:300. If it is 30 million, it is about 100,000 yuan. The price is not cheap. After all, 3.6 carats is less than 1 gram.
Hearing the price, Zhou Shanshan shook her head.
"No, 8 million, I think this is a suitable price."
Seeing the two people bargaining continuously, and the final price was 12 million, Xiao Bai couldn't help but be speechless. This price was indeed too high.
I don’t know if the small jade trade fairs in the next few days will also have such sky-high prices.
As Zhou Shanshan and the two completed the transaction, more and more people came to their booth with gems after a while.
And Xiao Bai's eyes were opened by this. Ruby, sapphire, spinel, and some star rubies made Xiao Bai feel dazzled by the sight.
In one afternoon, Zhou Shanshan harvested more than a dozen gems of various kinds and spent almost all the kyats they exchanged.
It's just that none of these gems are individually large. Among the dozen or so, not even one weighs more than 5 carats.
