Environmental Minister Ramould Ferreira yesterday debunked theories of Aragonite turning quite a number of Bahamians into billionaires.

According to him, his ministry is almost done researching the mineral in a bid to answer questions surrounding its value, whereabouts, and sustainability.

He said, “It’s quite fascinating. The Bahamas is really the only place that we’ve found with aragonite deposits. With that being said, aragonite is used as a source of calcium carbonate and there are many other places that have sources of calcium carbonate.”

The minister stresses that it can take anywhere between 150 to 2,000 years for one grain of aragonite to form and that Bahamians should be extremely careful with the resource’s management.

He said, “We’re not saying that it can’t be utilized. We’re saying that we have to make sure that the policies are in place because it’s very little wiggle room.”

The mineral aids in manufacturing jewelry, cement, and also said to have healing powers.