Dominican Larimar Mining—Current State and Future Prospects

Broda, Krzysztof; Natkaniec‐Nowak, Lucyna; Rak, Z.; Stasica, Jerzy; Heflik, Wiesław; Mościcki, Jerzy; Muñoz, Rolando Granados; George, Carlos Carrillo

doi:10.3390/min12020181

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Therefore, it seems necessary to modify the existing taxonomy and mineralogicalpetrographic systematics of chrysoprase. Broda et al (2022) described the larimar from Dominican Republic, which is an example of complex pectolite mineralization and provided also an example of agate which, alike chrysoprase, is composed of variable proportions of SiO 2 phases (see e.g. Dumańska-Słowik et al 2008, 2013Natkaniec-Nowak et al 2016).…”

Section: Chrysoprase -A Taxonomical Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sometimes, SiO 2 polymorphs can generate unique optical properties of agates, previously attributed only to precious opal (Natkaniec-Nowak 2020). Moreover, Broda et al (2022) used for the first time the term "polyminerals" to describe this type of complex mineral compounds. Thus, the authors intend to start a discussion among mineralogists and petrologists, not treating this term in an unambiguously binding manner, but rather as a proposal for the future nomenclature of many similar mineral compounds showing a complex internal structure.…”

Section: Chrysoprase -A Taxonomical Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chrysoprase – history and present

Sachanbiński¹,

Kuleba²,

Natkaniec‐Nowak³

2023

Mineralogia

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The authors present the history of chrysoprase discovery and the progress of knowledge about this material over the millennia, based on the extended review of world literature. Tracing the oldest archaeological artifacts from before 9,000 years, the lens of history turns on a stone that has not been properly identified mineralogically for centuries. In the 1830s, chrysoprase was finally included into the chalcedony group and its green color was associated, very correctly, with nickel compounds dispersed in its structure. After all, the most current mineralogy of chrysoprase is presented on the basis of the results of modern analytical studies. These data clearly indicate that chrysoprase is a mixture of several SiO2 polymorphs with varying degrees of structural order (opal, chalcedony, moganite, quartz). This radically changes the previous taxonomy of chrysoprase and its position in current mineralogical and petrographic systematics.

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Section: Chrysoprase -A Taxonomical Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chrysoprase -A Taxonomical Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chrysoprase – history and present

Sachanbiński¹,

Kuleba²,

Natkaniec‐Nowak³

2023

Mineralogia

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“…Mr. Miguel Méndez dictated the discovery story of Larimar to our second author, Yu-Hong Shih, who went to the Dominican Republic to mine amber (Figure 2). He also personally traveled to the Filipinas Larimar Mine, Los Checheses (Figure 1), in the mountains northwest of Baoruco [2,3] and entered the mine for sampling and collection. Mr. Miguel Méndez dictated the discovery story of Larimar to our second author, Yu-Hong Shih, who went to the Dominican Republic to mine amber (Figure 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the laterite contains muddy blocks and pyroclastic conglomerates of basaltic and ultramafic rocks, and these conglomerates mainly consist of highly weathered or metasomatic rocks, like hematized rocks (Figure 9) or serpentinite. The hematization is mostly the result of the oxidation of pyroxene and other mafic minerals in the wall rocks [3] caused by oxidative fluids. According to some research, the sea-wave pattern was believed to be related to the plant structures, because the pectolite and calcite filled in the plant fossils (Figure 8) [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revealing the Secrets behind the Color and Sea-Wave Patterns of Larimar

Huang,

Shih,

Chen

et al. 2023

Minerals

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In the last century, a blue–green colored gemstone known as Larimar with a special sea-wave pattern was discovered in the Dominican Republic. Larimar is composed of the mineral pectolite, which has a chemical composition of NaCa2Si3O8(OH) and is usually white in color. Cu2+ has always been considered to be the primary genesis of the blue color shown in Larimar, because native copper often grows together with Larimar. To clarify whether copper is the main reason for the origin of blue–green pectolite, we utilized laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) techniques to analyze trace elements in the pectolite samples and compared the relationship between elements and colors. The results show that vanadium and iron are the main origins of the sky-blue and green color of Larimar. We also discovered that it is not only the chemical elements that affect the color shades of the mineral, but the orientation of the radial fiber crystals also plays a critical role. The sea-wave pattern and the changes in the color saturation of radial pectolite are due to the transmittance of visible light through different viewed angles under changing crystal orientations. Our results reveal the chemical and physical factors behind the color and sea-wave pattern of Larimar. In addition, to our knowledge, this is the first time that the formation age of Larimar has been proven to be approximately equal to or younger than 40 ka, using the U-Th dating of calcite growth together with pectolite.

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