"Burma?s most important mineral production during 1981 was crude oil and natural gas. Production was sufficient for Burma to maintain petroleum self-sufficiency albeit at the cost of some consumer shortages. In addition to the mineral fuels, Burma also produced economically important amounts of lead, zinc, tin, tungsten, silver, barite, and precious stones. Nineteen other minerals were produced commercially, mostly for domestic consumption. Prior to World War II, Burma was an important supplier of metals and ores to the world economy. Subsequently, Burma?s mineral sector underwent a decline which was only arrested in the last 5 years. Since 1975, Burma?s Ministry of Mines has successfully stimulated a major recovery of the mining sector through new investments and rehabilitation of old facilities. Significant loans from bilateral and multilateral sources have been the chief catalysts in the process. The Burmese plan for fiscal year (FY) 1980-813 called for an allocation of $107 million4 in the mining sector. According to provisional data, however, $161 million was actually spent during the year, exceeding the original allotment by $54 million. The reason for the excess was an increase in expenditure for oil exploration and development, the Monywa copper project, the direct-reduction iron project, and the new Metallurgical Research and Development Center (Ela) of the Department of Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration. The mining expenditure accounted for 15.8% of total public investment in FY 1980-81.5 The FY 1981-82 plan allocated 14% of capital investment for the mining industry. In spite of these very significant investments, the Ministry of Mines was unable to maintain the momentum of the general recovery in FY 1980-81. As a result, the overall production results were mixed. Some of the major mining operations still suffer from inefficiency and energy shortages, particularly since the last quarter of 1980. Some of the mining sector renovation projects were slow to come online and delayed expected production increases. The mining sector employed about 69,000 persons, or 0.5% of the active labor force in 1981. Less than 3% of the total mining work force were employed in private or cooperatively owned mines. The remaining 97% worked in the state-owned mining companies. Mining accounted for just over 2% of the net output of goods and services..."