Painite (incredibly rare matrix specimen)

Item Description

There are a few mineral species that fall into the "Holy Grail" category of rarities. Minerals like Phosphophyllite, Legrandite come to mind, but Painite is truly one of the rarest minerals on the planet. It was named after its discoverer, British gemologist Arthur Charles Davy Pain. Believe it or not, the Guinness Book of World Records has described Painite as THE rarest gem mineral. Discovered in Myanmar in the early 1950's, from 1956 until 1979 only three crystals of this hexagonal mineral were known to exist ! Not too long ago, there was been a find of what was the largest discovery of this super rare mineral at Hinthar-taung (Hinthar Hill) near Mogok. This discovery was the result of years of laborious detective work, long days of digging and mining the few hills and sorting each and every crystal and fragment by hand. It is doubtful that there will be any more Painite, ever! Chemically, Painite is CaZrBAl9O18. However, it also contains minor amounts of chromium and vanadium and traces of iron that contribute to the orange-red to brownish-red color of the mineral. The VAST majority of Painite specimens are loose single crystals, off matrix, so a piece like this is an incredibly desirable and exceptionally hard to find display specimen featuring a 2.1 cm long, sharp, lustrous, well-formed, dark reddish-brown colored prismatic crystal, sitting atop massive Calcite matrix. The crystal itself is very good sized for the species, but the matrix aspect is what really puts it over the top. The quality is good for this super rare species, as the glistening luster is better than most, and while the termination is not 100% complete, but it's still partially terminated, and it doesn't take away from the fact that this is still a very impressive example of a mineral that has never been found outside of Myanmar. This material is disappearing fast, and there truly hasn't been much new material for a few years, so if you're a rare mineral collector, or if you've always dreamed of a matrix specimen of this exceedingly rare species, be sure to pick this one up.