GIA Gemstone Gathering to Focus on Cambodian Zircon Mines

CARLSBAD, Calif. – May 18, 2011 – GIA (Gemological Institute of America) announced today that “Ratanakiri: The Legendary Zircon Province of Cambodia” will be the topic of the Institute’s 46th Gemstone Gathering on May 25 in Bangkok. Walter Balmer, an earth sciences and gemology expert, will provide the presentation.

The lecture will be an overview of the geology of Ratanakiri’s zircon mines, mining activity in Cambodia, the history, procedures and research results of heat-treatments of zircon.

Walter Balmer, Graduate Gemologist (GG) obtained his master of science in earth sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich in May 2002, with a major in petrology-mineralogy and geophysics. He obtained his CHGeol qualification from the Swiss Geological Association in 2005 and is nearing the completion of his Ph.D. studies on the “Genesis and Trace Element Composition of Rubies from Marble-Hosted Deposits in Morogoro, Tanzania,” at Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Geology in Bangkok.

Balmer has traveled extensively in his quest to learn about earth sciences and gemology and has had the opportunity to work and lecture at a number of scientific and educational organizations. He has produced many papers for gemological and geological publications and events around the world and is a member of the Swiss Society of Mineralogy and Petrology, Swiss Geological Association, the ETH Alumni and GIA Alumni Association.

GIA Thailand’s Gemstone Gathering is a free event that begins at 6 p.m. on May 25 in the “White Room” of the lower lobby of the Crowne Plaza Hotel (formerly known as the Pan Pacific), Lumpini Park, Bangkok.

Due to limited seating, please RSVP by May 23 to the GIA Laboratory Bangkok at 02-632-4090; or call the GIA Thailand Campus at 02-237-9575. For more information, visit www.giathai.net.