[Rockhounds] Lima Mineral Market

Thu Jun 21 07:51:12 PDT 2018

Hi John

I didn't really have time to read through all of the posts to the thread, 
but a similar conversation happened on Mindat a few years back.

I've copied and pasted it all here for you.  Maybe there's something in 
there that's helpful.

Michael

Late this month I will be spending 5 days in Lima Peru and would appreciate 
any information on buying mineral specimens from local "pyriteros" or 
dealers. I am not interested in large, heavy specimens but mainly micros, 
thumbnails, and specimens no larger than 5 by 5 cms of a variety of species 
other that pyrite. Information on flea markets and names and addresses of 
dealers with a variety of specimens would be appreciated as would be advice 
on bartering with the locals since I do not want to pay the "gringo" price 
but the local "peruvian" price. Thanks for any information you can provide. 
John S.
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Matt Neuzil   October 01, 2009 02:41AM
There was a place in the downtown I saw. Actually it was centro comercial de 
santo domingo. There are a bunch of different vendors in there. Some are 
mineral dealers but I never really talked to them or checkout out prices 
they may know someone though. There was another place right across from 
Convento de San Francisco that had some minerals. They are not dealers but 
the had some selenite and I bought a nice japan law there for seriously 5 
soles or about $1.60 depending on the exchange rate. To get the cheapest 
stuff perhaps it might be best to go to the mining cities such as cerro de 
pasco or which ever city depending on what you are looking for.

Good Luck

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A buena hambre no hay pan duro
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Rock Currier October 02, 2009 09:14AM
The dealers in Lima don't have any idea of what micromounts are. Take out a 
magnifying glass and start examining their specimens, the may think you are 
nuts and for sure the price will double or triple. TN specimens are seldom 
saved by the miners and you won't see many in Lima. If you do, you can 
usually throw them in with other larger specimens with little additional 
price. Most of the runners will be happy to run you around town to the homes 
and places of business of the various guys who sell specimen, but you can 
expect that they will demand a hefty kick back from the various dealers they 
take you to. If you do this rout cut a deal with a taxi man for transport by 
the hour and they will run you all around Lima and wait for you at the 
various places while you look at the specimens. Some places in Lima you 
definitely do not want to be caught without ready transport and the Taxi guy 
will also help you keep out of trouble.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.
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Matt Neuzil   October 02, 2009 09:32AM
Obviously you might want to get an actually taxi company. These are the most 
safe taxis as in Lima unlicensed taxis are more common, less safe and more 
likely to take advantage of a gringo. As far as any parts of town that might 
be dangerous, the downtown can be bad at night, Callao is know for gangs 
(churros), and well pretty much any part in northern Lima is kinda shanty 
town. Staying in San Isidro, Miraflores, Barranco, San borja, La Molina and 
Jesus Maria should be okay. Anything after dark obvious is a little less 
safe.

I've been to some of the less safe areas, looked like an out of place 
gringo, dressed in business attire etc. I am not at all intimidating 
standing at 5'6" and I never ran into 'real' problems (knock on wood). Sorry 
I couldn't help much about dealers. I posted here in 2007 and didn't receive 
much info and really didn't find any more in my two trips to Lima. I know 
that Ibrahim Jameel posted an article about his recent trip to Perú. His 
mindat article can be found in the following link.

http://www.mindat.org/article.php/677/Peru+2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A buena hambre no hay pan duro
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John Sobolewski   October 04, 2009 09:36PM
Thank you, Matt and Rock for the information and advice. I will report on 
what I find out. John S.
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Steve Sorrell   October 05, 2009 08:33AM
Hi John

Good luck with your trip. Although it specifically doesn't help with your 
request, this article is a good read → 
http://www.webmineralshop.com/articoli/andec/ande_peru.htm

Regards
Steve
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John Sobolewski   November 24, 2009 08:52PM
After spending several days in Lima with some time for chasing minerals, 
here is what I have found:

1. I took a taxi to visit two well known Peruvian dealers who regularly 
attend the Tucson Mineral
Show. They had some nice specimens but their prices were the same as they 
had earlier this year
in Tucson or even slightly higher. One of the dealers has a wholesale room 
in Tucson where earlier
this year I could get flats at much better prices than the ones he offered 
in Lima. Consequently there
was no reason to buy from them and lug the specimens to the USA.
2. The Bolivar Hotel is on the Plaza San Martin. Across the back of the 
Hotel on Moquegua Street
there is a relatively big mineral shop but it never seemed to be open. At 10 
o'clock I was told it
would open at 11. At 11, I was told it would open in half an hour. At 3 pm, 
I was told it would open
tomorrow so I gave up.
3. Near the Plaza de Armas on Conde de Superunda Street is the Santo Domingo 
Church, opposite
which is a large market with Peruvian made goods, including lots of bead 
shops with polished rocks
some of which have minerals. One of these had reasonable Pyrite specimens at 
about $18US (50
soles) per Kilo. Other shops had Quartz crystals, pink Opal, Orpiment and 
various specimens from
Cerro de Pasco at quite reasonable prices. That is where I bought most of my 
specimens, and
especially at shop number 239.
4. There is a museum with about 1,500 minerals from various Peruvian mining 
districts on Ocona
Street about 1 or 2 blocks from the Paza San Martin. They have s small 
mineral shop (you have
to ask to see it) with some reasonable specimens for $7US (20 soles) each 
and collections of 8
specimens for $35US. Unfortunately, like in the vast majority of Peruvian 
Museums, you cannot
take pictures.
5. Other markets, especially the one at the railway terminus to Machu Pichu, 
had mineral
specimens, primarily Pyrite, but the first price offered was expensive and I 
did not even bother to
bargain.

Another thing I found is that some professional Peruvian minerals dealers 
from whom I got business
cards in Tucson do not answer their e-mails unless they are in Spanish 
because they do do speak
English. Also, some of their web sites listed on their business cards do not 
seem to be reachable.
Overall, it was an interestingI experience and I hope that some of you find 
this information useful.
John S.
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tymara cooney December 10, 2014 05:11AM
Hello,

I am going to peru to find crystals for making jewelry? Does anyone have any 
info on where i should go? Is it better to visit the mines or talk to 
locals? please let me know :) It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Tymara
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Matt Neuzil   December 16, 2014 01:03AM
The places John mentioned should help. I've found decent cut slabs of 
dumortierite just on ebay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A buena hambre no hay pan duro
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Alfredo Petrov December 16, 2014 02:40AM
Tymara, Going to mines to buy specimens in Peru can be a risky business. 
Many miners collect specimens and sell them discreetly to dealers, but most 
mining companies frown on the practice and could consider the crystals to be 
their stolen property, or fire the miner for wasting time on the job. Many 
miners will be afraid to tell you they have specimens for sale because 
unless you have been personally introduced by someone they know they don't 
know whether you are a serious buyer or just a spy for company security. If 
you do get specimens, you risk getting them confiscated by the police at 
roadside checkpoints (That's happened to a friend of mine in Peru).

So my advice is either buy the stones at shops or in the market in Lima, or 
travel to the mining towns together with someone who already knows the place 
well. Or contact mine owners in advance and ask permission to visit - Charm 
might get you in.

-----Original Message----- 
From: John Scully
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2018 7:44 AM
To: Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors
Subject: Re: [Rockhounds] Lima Mineral Market

Hi, Larry

No, it was not that.  This was (is??) a market with several dozen stalls
that sold minerals all week long.  It was in a very bad hood, and the
sellers were very worried about showing any money during a transaction.
But, they had great specimens and would bring more to your hotel.  I love
it and would very much like to find it again.
☺

On Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 7:59 AM, <larryrush at att.net> wrote:

> John: If you are referring to the miners who sold pyrite, et al, in the
> Lima park on Saturday nights, I have heard that they no longer do. No
> verification for that, just something I heard some time back. Evidently, 
> it
> ended when the copper mines closed down. Quite a loss for collectors of
> fine Peruvian minerals!!
>
> Larry Rush
>
> ================================================
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rockhounds <rockhounds-bounces at rockhounds.drizzle.com> On Behalf Of
> John Scully
> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2018 8:41 PM
> To: Rockhounds <rockhounds at rockhounds.drizzle.com>; Laurie Rossi <
> cellogoddess22 at gmail.com>; lizzy scully <lizzyscully at icloud.com>; Patrick
> Rowe <rowe_patrick at ymail.com>
> Subject: [Rockhounds] Lima Mineral Market
>
> The Washington Post recently published a list of the top 50 restaurants in
> the world, and three of them are in Lima, Peru.  I rashly but happily made
> reservations to treat my wife to a trip to Lima to do these three
> (hopefully, we can get reservations!).  I went to Lima 20 years ago with a
> friend named Dick Dale, and he took me to a really cool mineral market in 
> a
> really bad hood.  I don’t suppose anyone knows if it is still in existence
> and the address?
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