Bawdwin

a city in Burma, in the Shan State. A rail terminus on a branch from the city of Mandalay, Bawdwin is the center of large deposits of polymetallic ores, evaluated (in 1956) at about 2.2 million tons. These ores contain approximately 49 grams/ton silver, 20.4 percent lead, 12.6 percent zinc, and 0.9 percent copper. The mine, together with the smelting plants and concentrating mills in Namtu, forms the country’s only combine of nonferrous metallurgy. Owing to the severe destruction in World War II and the slow reconstruction of industrial enterprises, the mine’s output in 1965 did not reach the prewar level. In 1965 the mine produced 16,900 tons of lead and 7,600 tons of zinc compared with the 92,800 tons of lead and 59,500 tons of zinc produced in 1937.