[2] The canton begins on the coastline of the Gulf of Nicoya north of the mouth of the Abangares River.

[9] One of the canton's major modern producers of gold, with silver as a by-product, has been the Tres Hermanos mine, which for many years was operated by El Valiente Ascari S.A., a subsidiary of Ariel Resources Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

[10] That company filed for insolvency in 2001 and abandoned the operation while still owing its workers two months worth of wages.

[8] More than 300 families continue to earn a meager living working through an independent local collective that now operates the mine.

[8] A mining museum at La Sierra de Abangares with artifacts from the boom times of Costa Rican gold mining is a major tourist attraction of the canton.