That sum places the jade on top of the list of the world’s most valuable, but even more immediately impressive than that is the piece’s massive size. It’s reportedly nine feet tall, and 18 feet wide, weighing in at about 175 metric tons. That estimated value certainly reflects its unbelievable size, but it’s not quite the biggest piece of jade in the world, coming in second place behind a 260-metric-ton statue at China’s Jade Buddha Palace. Local politician U Tint Soe was not one of the miners who helped dig this record-breaking jade out of the ground, but he was nevertheless on hand for photos and quotes: That $172 million figure, by the way, is based on the stone’s raw value per pound. Once it’s sent to China, cleaned, polished, shaped, and carved into much smaller jewels, statues, and other pieces, its total market value will be all but completely incalculable, but has been estimated as somewhere in the billions.
