Painite
Species
Legendary · CaZrAl₉O₁₅(BO₃)
Long counted among the rarest minerals on Earth: for decades only a handful of crystals were known. New finds in Myanmar from the early 2000s yielded several thousand crystals and fragments, yet fine clear material is still rare. Contains the unusual combination of calcium, zirconium, boron and aluminium. Named for the gem collector Arthur C. D. Pain, whose crystal from near Mogok reached the British Museum in 1952, and described in 1957.
Identity
- Formula
- CaZrAl₉O₁₅(BO₃)
- Chemical class
- Borate
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Habits
- Prismatic
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 8
- Density
- 4.01 g/cm³
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Colors
- deep red, orange-red, brownish red
- Transparency
- Transparent
Geology
- Origins
- Metamorphic
- Host rocks
- River gravels and sands
- Associated minerals
- Corundum, Mica
- Found in
- Placer deposit
- Geography
- Myanmar (Mogok area, northern Myanmar)
Classification
- Rarity
- Legendary
- Gem quality
- Yes
Arcane properties
- Affinity
- Fire, Arcane
- Effects
- Elemental fire, Planar travel
- Planar origin
- Material Plane
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Painite. Mineralogical Society of America, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2021.
- Painite. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- Painite. Gemdat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- G. R. Rossman, History of Painite. Mineral Spectroscopy Server, California Institute of Technology.
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