Stunned miners unearth world’s most valuable piece of jade worth £140MILLION

Stunned miners have unearthed the world’s most valuable piece of jade – an 18ft monster worth £140million.

Workers were excavating rare gems at a remote mine in Kachin State, Burma, when they stumbled across the huge jadeite rock.

The remarkable stone weighs a staggering 175 tonnes, measures 9ft high, 18ft long and 18ft wide.

The rock – which will appear its distinctive green once cleaned – is second only in size to the a carved statue at the Jade Buddha Palace in China which weighs 260 tonnes.

Miner Sao Min, 44, said: ‘We thought we had won the lottery. But this belongs to the country. It is in honour of our leaders.’

Burma – or Myanmar – is the world’s largest producer of jadeite – and the 50 billion dollar a year industry represents half of the country’s GDP.

The wholesale price of Jadite – most valuable form of the gem – from mines is around £820 per kg – but prices can reach is much as £1,150.