RARE ROCKS AND DEAR DEPOSITS

What are the rarest minerals on Earth? These are some of the hardest to find on the planet

- SCOTT DUTFIELD

There are more than 6,000 known minerals that have been discovered on Earth, defined as an inorganic solid with 'definite chemical composition' and 'ordered atomic arrangement'. The most common of these is bridgmanite, which makes up around 38 per cent of our planet's volume - though it's very rare on the surface. Not all minerals are created in equal supply, and some are much harder to find than others. The rarest mineral of them all is called kyawthuite. To date, only one specimen of the amber-coloured minera has been found. It was discovered in 2010 by sapphire hunters in the Mogok region of Myanmar, part of the world known for its rar minerals. The extremely rare mineral is a bismuth-antimony oxide, made up of the elements bismuth, antimony and oxygen.

Originally, the mineral was mistaken for topaz or scheelite until further investigation revealed it was something new. However, it wasn't until 2015 that the International Mineralogical Association officially recognised kyawthuite as a new mineral. It's thought that the mineral may have originated from a rock called pegmatite, an igneous rock (solidified magma) which has undergone changes in extreme heat and pressure.