Bukit Ibam Blue Lake | The Legendary Blue Lake in Pahang

Bukit Ibam used to be the largest iron ore mining site in Malaysia. Interestingly, the name of the hill is said to derive from the acronym taken from the book title “I Bought a Mountain” by Thomas Firbank in 1940. Mr. Fittburg, who was the surveyor for the mining company at the time, was reading the said book. When he asked the local about the name of the hill located in front of the mine site, no one seems to know what it is called. Hence, he called it Ibam Hill. However, some also said that the name derived from the acronym for ‘Iron Boxside Aluminum Magnesium’. Due to the mining and quarrying activity at the hill area, there were many large holes formed as a result of the detonations in order to retrieve the existing mineral resources. The holes later became a reservoir that eventually formed into a lake. One of the holes is the blue lake. It is the largest and the deepest quarry lake ever recorded. The mining activity had also increased the amount of soluble solid and heavy metals in the water. The chemical reactions between the rocks and the soil caused the water to look mesmerizing blue. Although there is aquatic life living in the lake, the blue color that is reflected from the lake water looks so beautiful.