amber-gems.com

a division of Leeward Capital Corp.

Burmese Amber Project History

Leeward Capital Corp. has been actively exploring in Myanmar (Burma) for over six years. During the course of evaluating the mineral potential of this country, the possibility of developing the amber deposits in northern Myanmar came to light. In order to evaluate the economics of mining amber, a field party was dispatched to examine the deposits in the Hukawng Valley in northern Kachin State. Based upon the discoveries made with regard to the quantity and quality of the amber deposits found, the division of amber-gems.com was formed.

Historically, amber has been mined in this district since the Han Dynasty over two thousand years ago, however no significant amber production from this region has been realized since the time of the British Raj. The largest piece of transparent amber ever found, weighing 33.5 pounds, came from this locality. This specimen is now located in the Natural History Museum in London.

Burmite ranges in color from yellow to dark orange to red. The red or cherry color is known to be hard, with excellent polishing characteristics, and is relatively fossiliferous. The fossiliferous nature of burmite usually consists of insect inclusions (also a snail and a bird feather) dated to the Cretaceous age! These rare qualities make this amber the oldest commercially exploitable amber deposit in the world and as such is quite valuable to scientists, collectors, and jewellers.

Dr. Grimaldi, Curator of Entomology with the American Museum of Natural History in New York and world renowned expert on amber, stated in his book “Amber Window to the Past” that:

“Today, burmite has almost legendary appeal, in part because the deposits are no longer mined and the supply is generally unavailable.”

Leeward Capital is the sole supplier of burmite outside of Myanmar. Dr. Grimaldi has authenticated the age of amber-gems.com's fossil-bearing amber. The American Museum of Natural History remains a large customer of amber-gems.com principally for insect inclusions.

In geologic time, the Cretaceous age was marked by mass extinctions of many animals, most notably the dinosaurs. Burmite and the fossils contained in it are dated as "pre-extinction" in age. The exact age is thought to be Albian or uppermost Lower Cretaceous. This is also the time when flowering plants proliferated.

When you purchase Burmite you are not just purchasing the finest jewelry-quality amber but a moment frozen in time.