There is only one example of the rarest mineral on the planet, and that is from Myanmar.
Most natural eyes have seen the magical magnificence of quartz, perhaps not realizing that it is the most normal mineral on the planet, but which is the most unusual?
Minerals are scattered anywhere on our planet, from sparkling spots in rock or sand to real unlikely treasures. As reported by the U.S. Geographical Society (opens in new tab), minerals are normally inorganic constituents or mixtures, meaning they do not contain carbon. Each type of mineral shows a requirement in its internal design and has a remarkable fabric structure. The gem type of the mineral, as well as its other actual properties, can vary.
The rarest mineral on Earth is kyawthuit. A single gem is known to exist found in the Mogok site of Myanmar. The Caltech Mineral Data set (opens in new tab) shows it as a small (1.61 carat) dull orange gemstone that was formally recognized by the Worldwide Mineralogical Affiliation (opens in new tab) in 2015.
However, little is known about kyawthuit, so we should move on to the second-rarest mineral today. It is painite that manifests as dull red hexagonal gems (although there are a few pinkish exceptions). Although today it is easier to track down than it used to be, this mineral is still unusual and its fabric structure makes it something of a logical mystery.
In 1952, English collector and jewelry dealer Arthur Agony bought two carmine gems in Myanmar, according to George Rossman (opens in new tab), a professor of mineralogy at CalTech who has studied painite since the 1980s and maintains an extensive data set ( opens in a new tab) from the relative amount of tests that he analyzed in detail.
Torment thought the gems were the rubies the area was known for, but unbeknownst to him, it was something far less common.
Painite (which took Arthur's last name) is found here and there alongside rubies and various gems. This makes sense as to why Agony accepted that the gems were rubies when he gave them to the English Gallery in 1954 for additional concentration according to Rossman. One more example of painite from Myanmar appeared in 1979, and until 2001 these three gems were the main known examples of painite on the planet.
The very first painite gemstone found, known as paintite #1, was subsequently cut by Rossman. His most recent concentrate on flours was distributed in the Mineralogical Journal (opens in a new tab) in 2018.
"I did [study] the [first] test," he told Live Science. "[My results] turned into standards against which various painite revelations were validated."
Through this investigation, Rossman discovered which components make up painite. With infrared spectroscopy, infrared radiation is used to identify components based on how they assimilate, reflect, and emit this light. With Raman spectroscopy, a laser is used to scatter visible, infrared, or bright light, causing the particles to emit new vibrations that make them detectable.
Rossman also discovered that there was a mistake in that the synthetics were not carved in stone by researchers at the English History Center. While they accurately distinguished aluminium, boron, calcium, and oxygen, the zirconium component was missing. Something else Rossman found gave painite its rosy tinge; It contains the following levels of vanadium and chromium which can make it look deceptively ruby.
But what makes painite so interesting? For one's purposes, it is just traced to Myanmar, but the real explanation lies in its starting point. Painite is a borate gemstone and which means it contains boron. It also contains zirconium. Boron is notoriously difficult to bond with zirconium. In truth, painite is the main mineral where the two have been observed and consolidated in nature. While the explanation is still unclear, zirconium and boron have not been found together in huge clusters, Rossman said. Similarly, it is expected that these components may not be truly stable along with the various components with which they could consolidate.
"As far as anyone is concerned, no one has done serious research into the material that would make paintite," Rossman said. “I don't mean any efforts to combine it in the laboratory.
Why Myanmar?
Rossman wondered why painite is so many different pearls, such as kyawthuit, that are traced to Myanmar. At the point when the old supercontinent Gondwana began to split a long time ago, India crawled north and bumped into what is now South Asia. The tension and intensity of the impact created a crowd of stones, a significant portion of which were diamonds. They believe that the boron in painite and other borate minerals may have come from the shallow oceans around the recently demarcated landmass.
Rossman was sent many gemstones that were considered painite to distinguish them. Some have flown under the radar for long periods, often hidden in packages of rough pearls or in the possession of dealers and collectors who have misidentified them.
Painite suitable for fine gemstones is rare and is worth up to $60,000 per carat, Rossman said. What determines the price may be abstract, but the fewer imperfections the better.
It should be noted that there are moral concerns about mining in Myanmar, also known for various pearls and examples of tiny ancient animals encased in gold. Watching General Freedoms (opens in a new tab) brings to light the problems of denying basic freedoms by a tactical government that profits from the mining business, which has dangerous and disease-ridden mines, limited labor, and child labor. As a result, some gem organizations will not buy pearls mined there, and several researchers will not focus on examples (opens in another tab) from that country.
Painite is now more normal than it used to be. Various gems began to appear in 2005, all in that year, and most of the painite can now be traced to Myanmar's Wet Loo and In the Taung areas.
Although painite no longer wears the crown of the most unusual mineral, it is still a true diamond.
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