And the hunt for it is so deadly, the jewel is known as blood jade.

The hills in Myanmar's Kachin state hold nearly all of it.

Every year, dozens of miners are buried and killed by landslides.

But what really goes on here has mostly remained a mystery, because the mines are guarded by the military 24-7.

So we had to film on a phone.

Reports suggest Chinese companies illegally operate the mines and allegedly exploit desperate workers.

About 90% of the jade mined here is smuggled across the border into China, where it's considered a sacred stone.

We went to the mountains of Myanmar to find out how the hunt for a jewel that legend says grants eternal life has killed so many people.

Black markets usually come to life after dark, because jade is believed to shine brightest in the moonlight.

Most sales aren't documented or taxed.

But if the gem was sold legally, Myanmar could earn an estimated $31 billion a year.

Reports suggest many buyers come from neighboring China, even though selling to foreigners is against the law.

In the daytime, about 400,000 people work in mines in the Pekant region, in northern

Myanmar's Kachin state.

Many Chinese companies bribe officials to illegally operate here.

They dump back topsoil after picking out large stones, and they let miners dig through it.

Thirty-eight-year-old Thant has mined here for seven years.

About 75% of miners here are addicted to drugs like heroin and meth.

Thant says he'd never tried those drugs before coming here.

Now he shoots up multiple times a day.

He says some of his Chinese bosses paid portions of his salary with free meals and heroin.

He asked us to hide his identity because he feared his employers would retaliate.

These claims can be hard to verify because most of the mining happening here is illegal.

Not a single mining permit has been issued since a military coup in 2021.

The region has seen violent conflict since the early 1960s.

The Kachin people who are native to these mountains have been fighting for independence.

They have their own army known as the KIA, which has been battling the Myanmar armed forces and other ethnic groups.

The war has killed thousands of Kachin civilians in the past decade alone.

We reached out to the KIA and the Myanmar military, but did not get a response.

The conflict has allowed lawlessness to run rampant, as well as the illegal drug trade, which has become a multi-billion-dollar industry across the country.

Myanmar is the world's biggest producer of opium and meth.

Drugs from here are trafficked to China and nearby countries.

The profits are fueling the Kachin War.

And jade mining is funding it, too.

Most of the jade from Myanmar gets smuggled to China, where the stone has been thought to bring good luck and to have healing powers for millennia.

Legend says this stone could make their souls live on forever.

It has also been found buried alongside royals in ancient tombs.

Today, China's wealthiest wear jade as a symbol of status and power.

Chinese businesses reportedly pay Myanmar locals up to $400,000 per trip to smuggle trucks of jade into the country.

The gem's price grew tenfold in the first decade of the 2000s.

And it's still growing exponentially, according to the most recent estimates.

There is a cheaper kind called nephrite that's widely sold in Chinatowns around the world.

But Myanmar's Kachin state is one of the only places that has jadeite, which is especially green and transparent.

So rare that a single bangle can sell for over $3 million.

Estimates have found that the Kachin Mountains hold about 90% of it.

But they're hollowing out.

Miners like Shwetak search for what's left.

He uses a pocket light to check for a hint of green.

Dozens get buried alive or drown because of landslides each year.

In 2020, a single landslide killed about 200 miners.

But Shwetak says mining is his only option.

He came out as a transgender man seven years ago, and has struggled to find jobs ever since.

Myanmar is one of the hardest countries to find employment for people who identify as LGBTQ.

A nationwide law makes it legal to arrest people who openly express their gender identity.

He says he still looked too much like a woman when he started mining here.

Few women work in these mines.

Some have spoken out about sexual abuse by miners and soldiers.

Shwetak says other men treated him well, and today, many have become close friends.

But over the years, Thant has lost many of his.

He lives in a hut in a cemetery where some of them were buried.

He moved here from a town nearly 300 years ago.

He was 300 miles away after his family's house burned down.

He promised his wife and children he'd return rich and rebuild their home.

He says the drugs help numb the pain.