Inside the Indonesian Amber Mines, Part 1
- Ryan Zschomler
- 21 hours ago
- 4 min read
Visiting the amber mines in Indonesia
In April of 2026, we visited the amber mines in Indonesia. We have seen a lot of this kind of amber on our website and our live feed for years. But there is so little information online about it! So we decided to go there and show you! So follow our blogs for an educational adventure on how amber is mined in Indonesia.
On the hot tropical island of Sumatra, Indonesia, surrounded by mosques and motorbikes, amber exists in huge quantities under the earth. Indonesian amber has the distinction of producing the largest single pieces of amber in the world. The largest piece of amber in the world comes from here, and is currently located in The Museum of Gdansk (Poland) in Gdansk.
Indonesian Amber mines are Coal Mines
Indonesian amber is found in coal mines. So to find amber there, one must go to the coal mines. We went to the coal mines in Maura Bungo.
There are many deposits of coal here, and they have amber buried underground alongside them. Large amounts of coal and amber are unearthed together. Pure amber mines don't exist in Indonesia. This is because the coal is more profitable than amber to a large scale investor, .
This trip to the mines takes place in the town of Maura Bungo, Jambi, Indonesia. On the island of Sumatra. This is a bustling town of about 21,000 people. On the outskirts of this town are small scale coal mines. These coal mines produce amber as well. It is this amber that we are interested in.
Getting access to the amber mines
One must have a contact to explore the mines, because you cannot enter the coal operations without a permit. Without proper permits it is illegal to enter. Many people have been jailed for illegal amber collecting in these zones. Our contact Ahmed is a professional in the coal industry who gained us access to the amber mines. Without a contact like this, you can't explore the amber mines here. This pretty much goes for any amber mines on earth.
To get to the mines, you have to drive out of the town of Maura Bungo for about 30 minutes and go down long rural roads towards the mine locations. Once you arrive, there is usually a security checkpoint to be passed. Upon passing the security, you enter an area with wide areas of flattened earth.
These mines are not deep pits. They are large areas of cleared, excavated earth where the amber and coal are unearthed together. Often times, the amber and the coal are in the same piece, and then separated. Historically and still today, the amber sometimes gets burned alongside the coal.
While exploring this mine, we collected about a kilo of amber very easily from the leftovers laying on the ground.
A lot of the amber here is mixed together with coal. You can find the two items mixed together in one piece. Below is an example of Indonesian amber, covered in coal.
Leaving the mines and having dinner
While driving, we passed a multitude of palm oil plantations. These are very common in Indonesia. After an area is mined for coal and amber, they plant native plants on the former site in order to restore it. The local environment is quite jungly, and has monkeys abounding along the roadside. They scurry along the road much like squirrels do in North America.
While driving in Maura Bungo, you will see mosques dot the landscape with their onion-dome rooftops and melodious prayers. Mosques typically have loudpseakers outside of them that they use to project their prayers across the town. Their prayers are musical, and thus give quite a bit of flavor to the local ambience.
Food In Indonesia
Coming back from the amber mines, we had a nice dinner which costs about $20 to feed the whole family. This is my plate, we ordered 5 of these, plus juices, and sides, for about $20 total. Eating is good in Maura Bungo!
Stay Tuned for more Indonesian Amber mine adventures! Part 2 Coming soon!
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