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There are three main sites in the Dominican Republic where amber is found: La Cordillera Septentrional, in the north, and Bayaguana and Sabana de la Mar, in the east. In the northern area, the amber-bearing unit is formed of clastic rocks, washed down with sandstone and other sediments that accumulated in a deltaic environment, even in water of some depth.

In the eastern area, the amber is found in a sediment formation of organic-rich laminated sand, sandy clay, intercalated lignite as well as some solvated beds of gravel and calcarenite.

Both areas seem to have been part of the same sedimentary basin but were later disrupted by movements along major faults. (Iturralde-Vincent and MacPhee, 1996).

According to Poinar, 2001, Dominican amber dates from Oligocene to Miocene, up to 30 Mya old. The oldest, and hardest of this amber comes from the mountain region north of Santiago. The La Cumbre, La Toca, Palo Quemado, La Bucara, and Los Cacaos mining sites in the Cordillera Septentrional not far from Santiago. There is also amber in the south-eastern Bayaguana/Sabana de la Mar area.