Elitist Scientist 002 - Painite
27 May 2018Undomyr
Elitist Scientist 002Painite
Hello! Welcome back to the Elitist Scientist series of logbooks. Today's topic; the queen of minerals (at least in Elite), the one thing everybody who goes mining wants to see a lot of;
Painite.
Basic Information;
Painite is a borate mineral (yes, that's why Boron came first and this one second!) that is exceedingly rare on planet Earth. It's molecular formula is CaZrAl9O15(BO3). It is so rare because it requires the presence of Calcium (Ca), Zirconium (Zr), Boron (B), Aluminium (Al) and Oxygen (O).
Painite sometimes contains trace amount of Vanadium (V) or Chromium (Cr), which is why there are variations in shades of red the crystals have. It is named after the minerologist Arthur C.D. Pain, who first discovered it.
Compared to Painite diamonds are common, run-of-the-mill baubles. From its discovery in '57s to 2001 only three
raw crystals had been found, ever. After 2001 several large deposits were discovered, with thousands of painite crystals. Few of these, however, are of the right quality to be cut into gemstones and so painite gemstones are still exceedingly rare and prohibitively expensive.
Painite cut into a cushion-cut gemstone
Rough Painite crystal and the gemstone cut from it;
Painite gems can be worth up to $60,000 per carat (1 carat being 0.2 grams or 0.007055 ounces). For comparison, gemstone quality diamonds are worth $3000 - $9000 per carat. And this is the price today, when there were only 3 crystals found in total the value of the crystals was astronomical. Two crystals were located in the Biritsh Museum, the third sold to a private collector for an undisclosed amount of money. A lot of money.
Usage in 2018;
Showing off how wealthy you are by wearing jewellery that contains gemstones that are 20 times more valuable than diamonds.
Dangers;
Empty bank account upon purchase.
Uses in 3304;
Probably the same as in 2018; a way for the ultra-rich to show off their wealth.
Where to find it in Elite Dangerous;
Asteroid mining in metallic rings.
So Much For Painite, See You Next Time
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CMDR Undomyr, Elitist Scientist, signing off o7.