Click on a letter above to view the list of gems.  

Painite
Current inventory:  1 gem
 

Chemistry:  CaZrAl₉O₁₅(BO₃)

Discovered in 1951 (1957);   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).
Painite is named for Arthur Charles Davy Pain (? - 1971), a British gem collector, who first noticed the mineral.

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Borates

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

5/G.05-40

5 : Nitrates, Carbonates & Borates
G : Borates [BO3]3-
05 : Fluoborite - Painite series

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Hexagonal - Dipyramidal

Crystal Habit:

Crystals are elongated pseudo-orthorhombic, to 1.5 cm;

Twinning:

Common

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

None

Fracture:

Irregular to Uneven

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

8.0

Density:

4.01 - 4.03 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

Weak red in LW UV, strong red in SW UV.

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Optical Properties

Color:

Brown, Reddish Brown, Brownish Black, rarely Red

Transparency:

Transparent to Translucent

Luster:

Vitreous (glassy)

Refractive Index:

1.787 - 1.816  Uniaxial ( - )

Birefringence:

0.0270 - 0.0280

Dispersion:

n/a

Pleochroism:

e = ruby-red; w = pale brownish orange or pale red-orange

Occurances

Geological Setting:

In gem gravels.

Type Locality:

Ohngaing (Ohn Gaing; Ohn Kai), Mogok, Sagaing District, Mandalay Division, Myanmar (Burma)

Year Discovered:

1951; identified as a new mineral in 1957

View mineral photos:

Painite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Until recently, Painite was thought to be the rarest of all gemstones with only a couple faceted gems in existence. At first, the only mineral specimen was a red crystal kept in the British Museum in London, weighing 1.7 grams which was discovered in 1951 and identified in 1957 as a new mineral .  Eventually, other crystals were identified and finally a faceted gem came into existence. The recent find in Mogok has brought Painite to the market in greater quantities but it is still a very rare gem. The only two sources of Painite are from near Ohngaing Village (which is also the type locality) and Kyauk-Pyat-Thet, both  in Mogok, Sagaing District, Mandalay Division, Myanmar (Burma). Painite is a member of the Fluoborite - Painite mineral series that also includes Jeremejevite.
 

  
Painite gems for sale: