(CNN) More than 50 people are missing and feared dead after a mudslide buried workers at a jade mine in Myanmar's Kachin State, according to reports.

The state-run Myanmar News Agency reported that the slide was caused after a lake collapse in the city of Hpakant in the early hours Tuesday.

Three people have been confirmed killed and 51 are believed to be trapped by a "mud lake" created by the landslide, Myanmar news agency reported.

"Finding bodies is proving difficult. About 60 volunteers from our philanthropic association are participating in the search for bodies," said U Khin Maung, chairman of a local philanthropic organization, according to Burmese state media.

Jade is believed to be one of Myanmar's most profitable exports and worth billions of dollars, fueled in large part by demand in neighboring China.