PAINITE
The world's rarest mineral
This is perhaps the rarest of all gem species.
Not a single cut stone is known to exist,
and only a few crystals have ever been identified.
ORIGINE
Painite was named after the British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D. Pain who first found it in the 1950s in Myanmar.
OCCURRENCE
Burma, in the gem gravels of Mogok. One red crystal was discovered in 1951 and identified in 1957 as a new mineral.
LOCALITY
The initial source of Painite has been claimed by local residents to be alluvial pebbles obtained in the Sinhalite Mine near Ohngaing Village in Myanmar.
OWNERS
Originally few of the known Painite specimens were privately owned. The rest of the stones were distributed between the British Museum of Natural History, Gemological Institute of America, California Institute of Technology and the GRS Gem Research Laboratory in Lucerne, Switzerland.
SHAPE
The crystals are naturally hexagonal in shape and until late 2004, only two had been cut into faceted gemstones.
COLOR
Painite has an orange-red to brownish-red color similar to topaz due to trace amounts of iron.
The color resembles garnet and the density is that of garnet or ruby. This means that there might be cut gems in existence that have been misidentified as ruby or garnet.
The refractive indices are unlike those for ruby and the material is so clearly birefringent that it could not be confused with garnet, if tested. Also, a garnet of this color would display the almandine spectrum, a very definitive test.
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RARITY
For decades and up until 2004 only two cut specimens were known to exist, causing the jewel to be more or less "priceless."
Painite is a very rare stone, and up until 2004, there were only 2 cut loose gemstones in the world, but there has now been a new find in Burma.
In 2005, The Guinness Book of World Records called Painite the world's rarest gemstone mineral.
VALUE
$50,000- $60,000 per carat
In recent years, a few more crystals have been found. If you're lucky enough to find one on the market, expect to pay $50,000 to $60,000 per carat for this orange- to red-brown gem.
Around 1 carat Painite cut gemstones are worth around $5500.00. Apparently, there are only 300 known stones around today.
SPECS
Composition: Calcium, Zirconium, Boron, Aluminum, Oxygen
Hardness (Mohs): 8
Crystallography of Painite
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Inclusions: Minute cavities in thin sheets; inclusions of tabular hexagonal crystals (phlogopite).
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PAINITE
Category: Borates
Formula: CaZrAl9 (BO3) O15
Strunz classification: 06.AB.85
Dana classification: 7.5.2.1
Crystal system: Hexagonal 6/m
Unit cell a = 8.72 Å, c = 8.46 Å; Z = 2
HEALING PROPERTIES
• Painite is a remarkable crystal that can be used as a chakra opener, it works almost immediately.
• It has been suggested that Painit is also helpful for relieving pain on the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual levels.
• Painite can help with the clearing of the subliminal mind of all sorts of unwanted thought patterns, especially the unhelpful thoughts that push away good vibes.
• It is empowering and may help attract success.
• Combining Painite with Moldavite and Herkimer Diamonds will increase its intensity; however it is a very powerful crystal when it is used on its own.
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