Preface
Welcome to Summer at DMS! We’ll be taking a break
from our “Delaware Mineral Series”
until the Fall. Please do join us for a
Larimar Picfest!
So, get ready for some mineral eye candy with this month's favorite:
Larimar!
Let's
go!
Introduction
Welcome to
another annual Mineral
Picfest summer kickoff!
Larimar is a strange mineral name. One might think it was a
grandfathered IMA term from
ancient Europe. But alas, it is not. "Larimar" is a modern term
that refers to two aspects of its
discovery--in a non-scientific, gem-trade named way.
Enjoy!
A provocative mineral, Larimar,
is a trade name for a gemmy form of Pectolite. Found only
in the Dominican Republic, this Caribbean gem has only been commercially
available since the
late 1970s.
It is an “agatey” blue, when
polished, and resembles a cross between aquamarine beryl and
turquoise in luster and color. In it’s rough form, the same blue
appears, yet looks more like a
secondary azurite upon limestone.
A Dominican man, Miguel Mendez
and a Peace Corps member, Norman Rilling, re-found the
location in 1974. Senior Mendez was inspired to name the gemstone
after his daughter Larissa
and the blue sea, which the stone resembled (Spanish “mar“).
One locations exists for this
rare blue gemstone: in the southwest of the country in the
mountains of the Barahona.
Mining is done with hand tools in
man-hewn holes--dangerous work. Should you come
across some rough, think kindly on the miners of the Caribbean, and enjoy.
Uses
Larimar has
only a gemstone usage known to date.
Links
http://www.mindat.org/min-29025.html
http://www.laridomgem.com/index.html
http://www.larimarmuseum.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larimar
http://www.larimarfactory.com/
http://www.minerals.net/mineral/silicate/ino/pectolit/pectolit.htm
http://www.webmineral.com/data/Larimar.shtml
Members' Gallery
Here is where DMS Members can add their
Larimar
photos to share with us.
Until Next Time
We hope you have enjoyed our all too short visit to
Larimar. Please join us next month,
for another article, and we shall journey together!
Until then, stay safe, and happy collecting.
Article Contributors
I would like to gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions of our fellow
Larimar
enthusiasts,
collectors, authors, curators, professionals, and club members who made this
work possible.
Thanks.
© 2008 All contributions
to this article are covered under the copyright protection of this article
and by separate and several copyright protection(s), and are to be used for the sole
purposes of
enjoying this scholarly article. They are used gratefully with express written
permission of the
authors, save for generally-accepted scholarly quotes, short in nature, deemed legal to
reference
with the appropriate citation and credit. Reproduction of this article must be
obtained by express
written permission of the author, Kenneth B. Casey, for his contributions, authoring,
photos, and
graphics. Use of all other credited materials requires permission of each
contributor separately.
Links and general contact information are included in the credits above, and throughout
this article.
The advice offered herein are only suggestions; it is the reader's charge to use the
information
contained herein responsibly. DMS is not responsible for misuse or accidents caused
from this
article. All opinions, theories, proofs, and views expressed within this article, and in
others on this
website, do not necessarily reflect the views of the Delaware Mineralogical Society.
Suggested Reading
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About
the Author:
Ken is current webmaster of the Delaware
Mineralogical Society. He has a diploma in
Jewelry Repair, Fabrication & Stonesetting from the Bowman Technical School,
Lancaster, PA, and worked as jeweler.
He has
also studied geology at the University of Delaware.
And,
he is currently a member of the Delaware Mineralogical Society and the Franklin-Ogdensburg
Mineralogical Society.
E-mail:
kencasey98@yahoo.com.
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