Painite with Corundum

specimen number:
9507060

location:
Kyauk-Pyat-That, Mogok, Pyin-Oo-Lwin, Mandalay, Myanmar

description:
A grouping of prismatic lustrous painite crystals 5.0 cm in length set on matrix. Minor corundum present as purplish red crystals of the variety known as Ruby. In good condition all around, this is outstanding for this rare mineral.

Kyauk-Pyat-That is a locality near Mogok, Myanmar, within the Mandalay Region, famous for gemstone mining that operates informally through local artisanal and small-scale pocket digging rather than having fixed historical corporate opening or closing dates. Geologically, the area is characterized by complex metamorphic terrain involving crystalline marbles and skarns formed through regional metamorphism and metasomatism of ancient limestones intruded by granitic and syenitic magmas. This unique geological environment facilitated the formation of extremely rare minerals, most notably painite, a scarce borate mineral first discovered in the region during the 1950s by British mineralogist Arthur C.D. Pain, which features a distinctive hexagonal crystal structure and an unusual combination of calcium, zirconium, boron, and aluminum.

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