10 Of the Earth's Rarest and Most Valuable Minerals

1. Introduction
2. list of the most valuable Earth's Rarest Minerals
1. Jade
2. Red Beryl
3. Painite
4. Black Opal
5. Taaffeite 
6. Emerald 
7. Benitoite
8. Tanzanite
9.  Musgravite
10.  Jeremejevite
3. Conclusion

1. Introduction

From diamonds to gold, popular minerals are hard to come by. It takes a lot of elements, erosion, and millions of years for these materials to form. These rare minerals got embedded in layers of mud and rock which eventually became compacted into sedimentary rocks. Some minerals have been found only in one place, others are really rare. These gems are very valuable and hence can just get lost if you don't know how to nurture them. 

Emerald Specimen

2. Here is a list of the most valuable Earth's Rarest Minerals;

1. Jade

Jade is a hard, dense mineral that takes a brilliant polish and is found in a wide range of colors most commonly green, but also white, pink, lilac, yellow, orange, red, and brown. It is relatively easy to carve and can be made into jewelry, ornaments, and figurines. The name is derived from the Spanish phrase “piedra de ijada” meaning “stone of the colic”.

Mayan Jade

2. Red Beryl

Red beryl is one of the rarest gemstones on earth and has been described as being more valuable than gold. The mineral owes its color to the presence of cesium. Red beryl is mined at only one commercial source in the world the Wah Wah Mountains of Beaver County, Utah.

Red Beryl var. Bixbite | A rare form of Beryl (Red Emerald) 

3. Painite

Painite was first discovered in Myanmar by British mineralogist and gem dealer Arthur C.D Pain in the 1950s. For decades only two specimens were known to exist making it the world’s rarest gemstone mineral but recent finds have significantly increased availability on the market.

Painite Mineral

4. Black Opal 

This is one of the most treasured varieties of opal in the world. It is found in Australia, and it has a dark background color with fiery flashes of color.

Black opal (Stayish Mine, Wollo Province, Ethiopia)

5. Taaffeite 

This mineral was first discovered in 1945 by Count Edward Charles Richard Taaffe (hence its name). It is one of the rarest gemstones in the world, and it can only be found in Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

Taaffeit-G-EmpireTheWorldOfGems

6. Emerald 

This gemstone is a variety of beryl that grows in pegmatite rock pockets along with other gemstones like aquamarine and bixbite. It is famous for its green color, which can vary from light to dark depending on its source rock. The best emeralds come from Colombia where they have been mined for centuries by various cultures including the Inca and Aztec civilizations. Emeralds are also mined commercially in Brazil, Zambia, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, and Pakistan.

Emeralds | Opaque emeralds from Brazil. | MAURO CATEB

7. Benitoite

Benitoite is a rare blue barium titanium silicate mineral found in hydrothermally altered serpentinite. It's named after the San Benito River which was discovered in 1907 by Japanese miners who were working for a San Francisco mining company. The mineral forms as columnar crystals that are often found together with white natrolite, pink cross-fiber spodumene, and clear to white topaz, all of which are also rare minerals in their own right. The crystal structure of benitoite resembles diamond and sapphire, but it is softer than both of them (its hardness is 6 to 6 1/2). This makes it unsuitable.

Benitoite Mineral

8. Tanzanite

Tanzanite was first discovered in 1967, and only found in a single region of the world: Merelani Hills, Tanzania. Tanzanite is actually zoisite, but with a blue color that is only found in this one mine in Tanzania. It is 35 times rarer than Diamonds. Blue tanzanite has a value of $600 per carat, while violet tanzanites are valued at $1000 per carat.

Zoisite-tanzanitedouble

9. Musgravite

First discovered in 1967 in Musgrave Range, Australia (which it is named after), musgravite can come in a variety of colors including black, green, brown, and gray. It is used as a gemstone and an ingredient for high-tech products such as lasers and LEDs. It is estimated to be 12 times rarer than Diamonds, with an approximate value of $3500 per carat. Very few have been found so far!

Musgravit-G-EmpireTheWorldOfGems

10. Jeremejevite

Although it was first discovered in 1883 by Siberian mineralogist Pavel Jeremejev (whose name it bears). This blue mineral can be found in Namibia and Siberia. Only 14 known examples exist today.

Jeremejevite Mineral

Conclusion

The rarity of these minerals is that they are all limited to a single geographic source and/or difficult to extract. However, this rarity also makes them expensive. Most of these minerals fetch very high prices, depending on the quality of the ore. Thus, market forces cause them to be quite valuable and sought-after.