Larimar, the mine and the miners

Working in the mines...

When people all over the world get to know about the unique blue pectolite, the Dominican blue Larimar stone, they click on the word Larimar and the same story about this stone will show up! Who discovered the Larimar stone, when and where, as well as a few characteristics of this special blue semi-precious stone.

But what about the people who make it possible for us to wear and enjoy of the jewel of the Caribbean, the Larimar stone? We want to talk a little bit about their struggle at the Larimar mines!

Larimar slabs

The peasants, who planted “yautia” (yams) in the surroundings of the area of the Larimar mine, were the first people to get involved with “the blue stone” as they called it. They collected this “blue stone” before Miguel Mendez followed the trail of the “blue stone” until he reached the peak of the mountain and revealed this best secret to the world!

These peasants turned into miners, as they understood they could make more money at the mine than with agriculture. The Dominican government gave them the concession to exploit the mine of Larimar. All mineral rights in the Dominican Republic belong to the government. In 1985 approx. 100 miners were working at the mine and by recommendation of the government a first cooperative was formed, nowadays there are two cooperatives.

Las Filipinas

The mine is located in the highest mountain of “Las Filipinas” in the community of Bahoruco, where you will find hundreds of men, naked from the waist up, who are going every day into the deepness of what you could call “hell” searching for Larimar, some have been doing this since over thirty year ago, exposing their lives, to make some money! There is no life insurance, no emergency aid, and no 911!

Every morning when the clock strikes nine, approx. 20 men in group of five, like ant rows, introduce themselves in narrow holes, leading to underground galleries, reinforced with wood to avoid collapsing, it feels like being buried alive. To go down most of them use the wood that serves as ladder and as reinforcement of the pit walls, some use pulley, but other are afraid it might break and they will hurt themselves.

Men of all ages work with rudimentary tools, like shovel, pick and hammer, although lately some have an electric “pick-hammer” tool. Once these miners start working they will start a sort percussion sound, which will be played during eight hours, only interrupted by meal break of one hour! 

To be able to work in these infernal holes, air is pumped into the pits at eight o’clock in the morning one hour before the miners start going down.

An image of one of the many pits high in the mountain.

Actually there are about 40 holes or pits that are up to 200 meters deep. Once they find a Larimar vein they start working their way through corridors, reinforced with wooden frames, which many time become home for many cockroaches; these holes can be productive during several years. To open a new pit can cost approx. US$15,000, and not always Larimar veins are found in new holes!

Cables carrying electricity produced by the generator are introduced into different holes and 220 Volts cables are used in the pits where an electric “pick-hammer” tool is available, exposing their lives to electric shocks.

The president of the Dominican Republic visited the Larimar recently and promised to have ventilated tunnels made to enable the miners to extract this semi-precious stone in a safer way, he promised to technify the whole mining process and to make of this Larimar area a touristic attraction. Also he promised to give the local Larimar artisans the opportunity to learn the art and skill to make professional quality Larimar jewelry.  We welcome this initiative of our president and hope he will abide by his promise!!!

In rainy seasons these pit are filled with water and it takes some time before the miners can start working again.

If you want to experience their working day, no problem just take your trip to Bahoruco and the miners will be more than happy to show how they do their living!

What do you really get when mining Larimar stones?

Here we'll give you the shocking reality!

Larimar rough or Larimar bruto

This miner has small Larimar rough stones in his hands just coming from the pits; sometimes very big stones up to 60 lbs are mined. These stones are cut in slabs and it is in that moment that you really know the quality of the LARIMAR and find out if the stone is cracked or broken. In the process of preparing Larimar stone for jewelry there is a high waste of material and at the end practically only 10 % is left!, causing this semi-precious stone to be quoted at high prices. For example of 100 lbs of Larimar rough stone you obtain 30 lbs of slabs, from 30 lbs of slabs you get 10 lbs of cabs and only 1lb is first quality material.

Larimar slabs or Chapas de Larimar

Aquí les exponemos la cruda verdad!

Este es un minero con piedras brutas de Larimar acabadas de ser extraidas de los hoyos en la mina; estas son de las mas pequeñas ya que a veces sacan tamaños de piedras que pueden pesar hasta 60 libras. Estas piedras son cortadas en lajas o chapas y es en ese momento que se sabe verdaderamente la calidad del Larimar y si la piedra no esta cuarteada o rota!! En el proceso para preparar el Larimar para joyeria se pierde mucho material y practicamente viene quedando solo un 10%! por lo que esta piedra semi-preciosa se cotiza a precios altos. Por ejemplo, de 100 lbs Larimar en bruto se sacan 30 lbs de chapas, de 30 lbs de chapas se sacan 10 lbs de cabuchones* y de estos solo 1 Lb es de primera calidad!!

Discover the new thelarimarshop.com

Yes, we are beyond excited!

Desktop view

When we installed our virtual Larimar store The Larimar Shop a few years ago,  we were very excited, full of expectations, ready to fight the good battle to conquer customers from all over the world, with top quality Larimar stone and excellent Dominican craftsmanship,  good service loaded with tropical enthusiasm, efficient delivery time and more!!

From time to time we encountered some difficulty with our website, notwithstanding we did a lot of constant internet search to learn more about optimizing our The Larimar Shop site to make it an ideal place for every customer interested in our marvelous Larimar stone!  Through all our efforts during these few years  we understood that it was definitely necessary to make a new site contemplating all the desires of modern, active, updated customers!

Our hard and dedicated work has given birth to our radiant new The Larimar Shop site, which makes it easy and interesting for customers all over the world to find, select, buy that special Larimar jewel they were looking for or just fell in love with!

Tablet view

Here're some highlighted new features:

• More friendly webpage where you'll have a better view of all our handcrafted Larimar pieces.
• Now you can shop either from your Desktop or your Mobile device as our new website has been made mobile friendly for you to have the greatest experience when shopping with us.
• Now you can share all the items you love on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google + and much more, just choose!
• New options for creating your Whislist and give a hint to whoever you like!
• New filter that allows you to surf through all Larimar rings by sizes, now you can!
• Compare one item from another and select your best option!
• Want to see what's on trend check out our Tag tools and find out what's everybody craving for.

Subscribe to our Newsletter and don't miss the fun! We are now introducing our Weekly newsletter keeping all Larimar lovers updated with the latest arrivals, special offers, promotions and more!

Our main goal is to capture all those Larimar customers who are looking for genuine Larimar stone jewelry, with good craftsmanship, variety of designs, sizes, prices, traded by honest, transparent vendors, guaranteeing their purchase!

We invite you to share with us the experience of the new The Larimar Shop, a true Dominican shop with genuine Larimar stone in all its variety of blue and blue green shade, designed and handmade by local young artisans!

Larimar Stone the Blue Jewel of the Caribbean and its Synonyms

Human beings tend to love phantasy, mystery and all sort of things that will arise curiosity, encountered feelings, hidden emotions, etc. involved in a person, in a place, in a subject, in a religion, in a movement, in stones be it precious or not!

Our Larimar stone is not an exception to this fact and so, "PIedra Azul", meaning Blue Stone, is the first name this unique blue pectolite received from the locals of Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic, who found small pieces of this blue stone ocassionally.

Larimar stone ring

When finally this blue pectolite, semi-precious stone, was rediscovered by Miguel Mendez, from the Dominican Republic, and Norman Rilling, a Peace Corps Volunteer from USA, in 1974 it is given the new name of Larimar, a combination of the name of Mendez's daughter Larissa and the word Mar, meaning sea!.

Once this stone starts becoming known abroad, its blue intriguing beauty strikes many hearts and interests, many strategies are used to promote our awesome #Larimar with all its variety of blue hues, mimicking our Caribbean sea waters, gorgeous patterns, which also can include some white, grey shades and inclusion such as red dendrites, copper, calcite, resulting many times in impressing Larimar specimens!!

And so we find that our Larimar stone has  been baptized with different names for different purposes or reasons!

Caribbean Turquoise

To our understanding this given  name is for commercial purposes!

Lorimar

Somebody must have misspelled the name Larimar and decided to keep the name Lorimar, maybe because there was already money invested and any correction would involve more money!

Stefilia's Stone

Who or what gave birth to this name is still unknown to us.

Dolphin Stone

Handcrafted Larimar Bracelet

This name is connected with metaphysical beliefs, attributing healing & spiritual properties to this stone

"Some believe that Larimar is the blue stone with extraordinary healing powers that Edgard Cayce predicted would be discovered in the Caribbean, where he said part of Atlantis could be found"

"Larimar has excellent energy for working with sea creatures of all kind. It is particularly good for communicating with dolphins."

"as dolhpins were associated with Atlantis and Larimar was used as a tool to enhance communicaction with them"

Atlantis Stone

This is the most powerful name used for Larimar to exalt its long list of healing and spiritual powers according to the New Age and Metaphysical philosophies

Edgard Cayce, called the sleeping prophet, (1877-1945), mentioned that a blue stone of Atlantean origin, would be found in a Caribbean island, which was part of the lost continent of Atlantis!

The blue beauty of Larimar stone is very appealing to people all over the world and its demand has grown enormously and increasing its cost constantly.

If in the #Dominican Republic locals would know the healing and spiritual properties attributed to our Larimar stone, we are sure, everybody would be wearing a Larimar piece, with or without silver, but unfortunately very few even know the existence of this marvelous stone!!

Is it maybe that the volcanic origin of this stone has a chemical reaction when in contact with our skin that benefits us positively?

Los Haitises National Park

Los Haitises National Park, located on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic is an ecological paradise. Here you can see secluded beaches, mangrove swamps, islets, and a multitude of caverns.These caverns are adorned with pictographs and petroglyphs. The culture(s) which created these artworks remain unidentified, some of them possibly predating the Taínos. A grand diversity of endemic flora and fauna are present in this park, and some of these islets are part of the birds sanctuary.

It is a protected virgin forest with little road access. The number of tourists allowed is limited, but since 2000 it has become a popular ecotourism attraction. Haitis (singular) means highland or mountain range in the Taino language, although the elevation of the park's hills ranges from 98 ft.

This protected area connects you with nature in any ways: from a spectacular boat ride through it’s breathtaking mangroves, exploration of the virgin tropical rainforest and caverns to a dip in a secluded beach right in the middle of Los Haitises National Park. 

Don't forget to include this experience when visiting our tropical paradise, the Dominican Republic.

The Truth About Larimar Mining in the Dominican Republic

Practically all Larimar jewelry vendors in the internet start their website with the story of Larimar; some of these vendors have visited the mine in the Dominican Republic, but others just make their own story with the information of their colleagues, some adding spiritual and healing properties to the Larimar stone.

Larimar Pendants

The fact is that the first person to note this blue stone in the mountains of Bahoruco, in the province of Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic was a Spanish priest in the year 1916 by the name of Miguel Domingo Fuertes Loren who reported this discovery to the Archbishop Nouel in the city of Santo Domingo. No importance was given to this stone called by the locals “blue stone” at that time and had to wait 58 years for Miguel Mendez, Dominican citizen, andthe geologist Norman Rilling, an American Peace Corps Volunteer, to be found and analyzed.

We can imagine the excitement of these two men with the discovery of these small blue stone pieces found in the alluvial of the Bahoruco river. This time the necessary arrangements were made to have this new stone scientifically investigated. In November 1974 the first research was made by the scientist Dr. Paul E. Desautels, Chief of the Mineral Department of the Smithsonian Institute, followed by several other scientists. They came to the conclusion that this blue stone corresponds to the pectolite family for the gemological properties are consistent with those reported for pectolite, with the rarity that Larimar is the onlypectolite with blue colors discovered until now in the whole world. Larimar falls under the category of semi-precious stone.

Larimar Bangles

The deposits of Larimar are all located in an area known as los Chenchenes in the mountains of Bahoruco. All mineral rights in the Dominican Republic belong to the government and all mining is permitted only by the concession from the Dominican Bureau of Mines. By the suggestion of this Bureau, two cooperatives were created to avoid disputes among the miners. This gesture from the Dominican government was with the idea to help locals of that area, which wereat the beginning farmers, to make their living.

Working in the mines can be very dangerous as they are poorly constructed and reinforced and very few safety measures are taken. 

In the past some European countries offered to modernize the mining process of Larimar and Dominican Government has in various occasion promised to cooperate and help the miners with the extraction of Larimar. Until now, theDominican authorities have no control of the working conditions and safety of the miners and no action is under way. Mining is still being done in a primitivemethod, using only pick, shovel and hammer to break the weathered basalt in search of Larimar veins, always with the hope to find top qualities for the manufacture of Larimar Jewelry. The quality and color of the Larimar extracted can vary from one area to another.

Larimar Necklace

There are tunnels and pits or holes; a pit can be as deep as 200 ft or more and fresh air is pumped in with diesel generators that keep the lights on. When the generators are going to be turned off, they advise the miners in the holes and tunnels and it might take up to twenty minutes or more for them to get out.

Previously the generators were small and a number of miners died because of lack of oxygen. The tunnels can be deep without a safety structure, collapsing in several occasions burying a number of miners alive.

Every hole or pit and tunnel has different owners and everybody knows whose hole is whose, despite the apparent disorganization. As an attraction the miners allow visitors to go down their shaft.

Larimar Heart Pendant

During the rainy season, the mines become flooded and as a result no Larimar can be extracted until they have dried out. It is really not known exactly how much Larimar is in the mine and conceivably, some believe the mine could become exhausted of the precious gem at any time, others forecast there is Larimar for a long time. No scientific investigation has been made about the extension of the Larimar deposits.

This uncertainty and occasional rumors surrounding Larimar availability, as well as its high demand due to the fact that it has become more widely known causefluctuations in its price. There is a kind of monopoly controlled by some Larimar dealers who are located in the area of the mines; they buy practically all the extracted Larimar stone from the miners and put prices on the different Larimar qualities. The rough Larimar stones are sorted out and priced according to size, quality, color, purity, demand, etc.

Larimar Dangle Earring

There are times when the local artisans have difficulties to obtain this semi-precious stone in order to make their Larimar jewelry, specially because of this silent monopoly. At the beginning the Dominican Bureau of Mines prohibited the exportation of uncut rough Larimar, but after time has past by, large quantities of rough Larimar is exported mainly to China, India and Indonesia where some buyers from the USA have their own Larimar Jewelry produced.

Larimar Stone Treasure of the Caribbean

Larimar was originally discovered in the year 1916 in Bahoruco/Barahona, southwest of the Dominican Republic, by the Spanish born priest Miguel Domingo Fuertes Loren, who reported this discovery to the archbishop Nouel in Santo Domingo. No mining action was taken at that time.



It was not until 1974 the American Peace Corps Volunteer, Norman Rilling and the Dominican Miguel Mendez, rediscovered this stone on the beaches of Barahona, close to the alluvial of the river Bahoruco. This stone was analyzed by several geologists, as well as the Smithsonian Institute in the USA and they all agreed that this stone has a volcanic origin and belongs to the group of  pectolites with the exception that this is the only blue pectolite found in the whole world until now.

The mines are located in the mountains of Bahoruco in the province of Barahona, southwest of this second largest Caribbean island. Most mining is open pit, with miners using only pick, shovel and hammer to break the weathered basalt in search of this Larimar stone. Efforts have been made by the Dominican Government to modernize the mining system. So far the available quantity in the mines is unknown, which makes the supply of this fascinating Larimar stone uncertain in the long run.

This semi-precious stone was named after Mendez’s daughter “Larissa” (abbreviation) and the Spanish word for sea “Mar”. Like the Caribbean Sea, Larimar gemstone reflects the different blue colors, from deep to light shades and jade green, often sparkled with the white and grey clouds color, peppered now and then with dendrites.

 

Larimar has also been named ”Atlantis Stone” by several new age philosophies, who believe that the island (Dominican Republic) was part of the lost continent of Atlantis associating it to the healing stones, including several other properties.

Larimar is in high demand and exported to several countries all around the world where it is mainly used for jewelry, among theme Larimar rings, bracelets, pendants, earrings and Larimar Necklaces. The settings of the Larimar jewelry will tell you where it was made!! Dominican artisan use very simple 925 silver settings whereas the artisan from India, Indonesia and other Asian countries have a more elaborated silver settings giving it a ancient look. 

Prices of Larimar Stone, as well as, Larimar jewelry will depend on the stone quality and craftsmanship. The deeper blue colors are more expensive than the lighter blue colors, but what makes this stone so unique is it marvelous variety of blue, blue green colors and patterns, making of each jewel something special!

If you'll love to indulge yourself with the best Larimar Jewelry on the web then you should visit our website www.thelarimarshop.com where you will find Larimar Bracelets, Larimar Pendants and Larimar Earrings just to name a few of the top quality jewelry we have in there.