VINACHEM

Scientists have cataloged 2,500 of the Earth’s rarest minerals. Their scarcity is such that the entire global supply of most of those minerals wouldn’t be enough to fill up a shot glass. Each of those ‘rocks’ can be found in no more than five locations around the World. In the most extreme example of this scarcity is Ichnusaite of which only one specimen has ever been found only 3 years ago (in 2013) on the Italian island of Sardinia. Co-authored by Dr Robert Hazen, from the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC, and Prof Jesse Ausubel of The Rockefeller University, in New York, the list is to be published in the American Mineralogist journal but we were able to provide you with a sneak peek.

To date, scientists have identified some 5,000 distinct minerals. Just 100 of those form most of our planet’s crust and 2,500 are classified as the “rarest of them all” by virtue of being found in only 5 locations around the Globe. Some of those minerals are so rare they don’t even have their own Wikipedia page!

The images below are courtesy of Jonathan Amos, the BBC Science Correspondent in Washington, DC. His article, classified under Science and Environment, has been published on the BBC News website on 2/13/2016 online version available: Earth’s rarest minerals catalogued (sic).

Nevadaite

The tiny blue crystal pictured above is called Nevadaite and is only known to occur in just two locations: Eureka County, Nevada, and a copper mine in Kyrgyzstan. It is a pale-green to turquoise-blue phosphate mineral. Its crystals tend to exhibit radial growth pattern made up of prismatic crystals that can grow up to 2 cm. radial crystal habit consisting of prismatic crystals covering areas up to 2 cm. Nevadaite is in the orthorhombic crystal system that displays conchoidal fracture.

Fingerite

Fingerite consists of black sub-metallic, well-formed prismatic crystals on matrix with black, poorly-formed ziesite. This rare mineral was found in the Izalco Volcano in El Salvador.

Cobaltarthurite

Cobaltarthurite is a monoclinic-prismatic mineral containing arsenic, cobalt, hydrogen, iron, magnesium, manganese, and oxygen. It can be found 10 km outside Mazzarron, in a small village called Patrana in the Province of Murcia, in Southeastern Spain. According to BBC, “the entire world’s supply of cobaltarthurite would probably fit into a thimble (the little cap put on your fingertip when sewing).”

Hazenite

Hazenite, simply put is crystallized microbial excrement. This rarest mineral can be found in only one location – Mono Lake in California. It forms when the phosphorus levels in the lake get too high, and the microbes in the water, in order to survive, have to start excreting it from their cells. To be less vulgar, we could say that hazenite crystal is born out of a struggle to survive. On the other hand, if the microbes still die, we could exclaim ‘Oh, hazenite!”

Ichnusaite

Ichnusaite, the Rarest of them all! This Rare Earth Mineral contains the radioactive element thorium and lead-like molybdenum. Only one specimen has ever been found. Pictured above is the only tiny crystal discovered in on the island of Sardinia in Su Seinargiu, Sarroch, Cagliari, Sardegna, Italy in 2013. - chemicalengineeringnews.org/