Is it legal to collect at Ratanakiri, Cambodia: Bokeo blue zircon diggings east of Banlung?

Gray area. Pits are informal artisanal claims, not a tourist operation: visit only with a Banlung guide who knows the diggers, and buy stones in Banlung shops as the clean lane

What can you find at Ratanakiri, Cambodia: Bokeo blue zircon diggings east of Banlung?

rough and cut zircon (brown, becoming blue on heating), small amethyst and peridot in local trade

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Southeast Asia, Ratanakiri

Ratanakiri, Cambodia

Bokeo blue zircon diggings east of Banlung

Gem locality Documented siteGray area

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What you could find

Reported finds from this ground.

Crystals and minerals

Also reported: rough and cut zircon (brown, becoming blue on heating).

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Stephanie Clifford from Arlington, VA, USA (CC BY 2.0).

Why this spot

Rockhounding locality: Ratanakiri means 'gem mountain'; its Bokeo area yields the world's best-known blue zircon, dug by hand from pits and tunnels and heat-treated to color

Wikipedia documents blue zircon as Ratanakiri's main gem, hand-dug via holes and tunnels, and names Ratanakiri zircon (trade name cambolite) as the heat-treated blue source