The story is definitely not true...
My mother was raised in the town where they have the Larimar mines (Bahoruco, 16 minutes west of Barahona) and we still visit frequently. I know all the Larimar miners and my fish tank (or bowl bottom is all Larimar, collected by myself and the kids on the beach). When I was a child (in the 70s) we used to collect the little blue pebbles from the beach (is a pebble beach) and sell them to people for .50 cents a pound, at the time the mine had not been discovered and to me it was an entertainment during my summer vacation. Some guy (I think his name is Miguel Mendez) discovered the mine in the 80's by following the path of the pebbles, they were carried to the sea by the river (I found a big Larimar rock in the river 2 weeks ago) and found the mine upriver. He named the stone Larimar because of his daughter Larissa and because the color of the stone is the same as the Caribbean sea, blue-turquoise - Mar (sea), this story is documented.
If anyone ever goes to Bahoruco, you'll get really cheap Larimar stones, but be careful, they'll also sell you the discarded cuttings and the pebbles found at the beach (bad quality and coloring, I'll say only good for fish tanks), and whatever they ask you for, give them only 25%-50% of it at the most...
If you have any questions, email me...Larimar is in my blood
