Only a single copy of a very rare mineral has been discovered worldwide thus far. The small but valuable stone known as “Kyawthuite” was mentioned by the popular science website ScienceAlert.
Publication says this tiny brown grain weighing only a third of a gram (1.61 carats) could be mistaken for amber or topaz. But an inconspicuous mineral speck has immeasurable value.
The stone was purchased in 2010 at a market in Chaung Gyi, Myanmar, by gemmologist Kyaw Tu, who believed that the rough gemstone was a mineral called scheelite. However, after he cut the stone, he realized that he had something unusual.
Unable to match the mineral to anything known, he sent it to the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) laboratory in Bangkok, Thailand. There, mineralogists were able to associate the stone with synthetic bismuth antimonate, but it has a structure that has never before been found in nature.
It’s a deep orange hue with a hint of red and a white vein. Its natural formation is also indicated by the hollow tubular inclusions called veins that are brought on by shear stress. It was probably an inclusion in a common volcanic rock called pegmatite, common in the region where the stone was found. Large crystals are often found in pegmatite.
If we talk about the value of Kyawthuite, it is currently considered priceless. The second rarest gemstone in the world, a mineral called Painite, is valued at between $50,000 and $60,000 per carat.
Los Angeles County’s National Museum of History currently holds the world’s only known example of Kyawthuite.
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