There is one place on Earth this comes out of the ground: a stretch of hillside behind Barahona on the south coast of the Dominican Republic. Larimar is pectolite that has taken copper in place of some of its calcium, and the copper is what turns it blue, everything from bluish white through turquoise to deep indigo and violet. The main workings at Los Chupaderos are about 10 km southwest of Barahona, roughly two thousand vertical shafts sunk into a rainforest hillside. A priest asked for permission to mine it in 1916 and was refused because nobody knew pectolite occurred there. It was found again in 1974 by Miguel Méndez and a Peace Corps volunteer, Norman Rilling, washed up on a beach, and named for Méndez’s daughter Larissa plus mar, the sea. One thing to know if you buy it: the colour is photosensitive and long sun and heat will fade it.
Blue pectolite
See it on the map
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
