SMALL concession holders in the world renowned "valley of rubies" in Mogok, Mandalay recently protested against unfair allocation of mines by the Myanmar government. Gemstone miner U Zaw Win who led the protest said there is a need to put a better system of allocation to small block concession holders. The concessions for small block holders stretches on an area measuring about 33,000 hectares in three zones while for medium scale holders, 6,500ha has been allocated, also in three zones. “The small block holder zones are far from town where there are no gems. The Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation ministry recently set up a regional gem block allocation and screening group to allocate an acre of land for gem mining to local residents.

Source: New Strait Times November 03, 2019 02:03 UTC