Natural Painite

Painite is an extremely rare mineral found only in northern Myanmar. The first stone, a red crystal was initially discovered by a miner in 1951 but not identified as a new mineral until 1957 when it was sent to the British Museum for chemical and X-ray analysis. X-ray diffraction revealed a hexagonal lattice and similarities to jeremejevite and fluoborite. A second and smaller painite crystal was recovered not long after the first by the same miner and both specimens were donated to the Mineral Department of the British Museum. No further specimens of the mineral were reported until 1979 when a third crystal was recovered by the GIA from a box of gem spinels from Mogok.

Painite Profile

Color information:	Pale pink from Nanya. Dark brown or reddish to orangey brown from Mogok.
Refractive Index:	1.816 - 1.787
Chemical Composition:	Ca4 Al20 BSiO38
Hardness:	8
Density:	4.0
Crystal Group:	Hexagonal
Ocurrence:	Mogok, Myanmar; Nanya (Nanyaseik), Myanmar.
Sign of the Zodiac:	N/A
Month of the year:	N/A

The extreme rarity of Painite began to change in 2001 with the discovery of a 55ct. crystal also from the Mogok area. According to Burmese sources, additional specimens were discovered in secondary deposits around Namya (Nanyaseik) in 2002 and more in Mogok in 2004. Just a year later miners and geologists discovered a primary deposit at the Thurein-taung and Wetloo mines in the Mogok area. Since then, more than one thousand crystals of painite have been unearthed but only a small percentage were suitable for faceting. The painite from Nanya is very small with most crystals weighing less than 1 ct. References: Rossman GR (2006) New discoveries of painite in Myanmar (Burma). Gems & Gemology 41, 356. http://minerals.gps.caltech.edu/FILES/Visible/painite/Index.html Vincent Pardieu http://www.aigslaboratory.com/painite.php

Looking for other Gemstones?

Search Gems by Color | Advance Search | Step-by-Step Search Wizard