The Muling deposits were discovered in 1985,
but mining is still limited. So far, it has consisted of
informal surface digging by local people, who extract
the gems by hand after washing the alluvial material.
Zircon is more common than corundum, and it
has been recovered as a byproduct of sapphire mining.
The commercial potential of the deposits has
not been evaluated, nor have the source rocks for the
gems been located.