There are on our planet, minerals are much more rare and valuable than diamonds, sapphires and similar jewels, which names at all on hearing
In the modern world is aware of approximately 200 varieties of natural gemstone.
Along with such popular gemstones like diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald, there are many semi-precious stones, some of which are so incredibly rare that their value exceeds many of the most valuable gemstone in the world.
1. Tanzanite
Tanzania
Tanzanite is a beautiful blue variety of the mineral zoisite, and he was named so because it is only found in a small area at the foot of mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The stone was not discovered in commercial quantities until 1960-ies, and since then its popularity has grown considerably, largely through the efforts of Tiffany & Co. The heat treatment of tanzanite very high temperatures, its blue color can be improved.
2. Black opal
Australia
Opals are usually creamy-white in color and have rainbow inclusions that reflect light when you move the stone. Black opals are much rarer because almost all of them are in the mines at lightning ridge, Australia. The darker color and brighter inclusions, the more valuable the stone. One of the most valuable black opals of all time is “Aurora Australis”, which sold in 2005 for $ 763 000.
3. Larimar
Dominican Republic
Larimar is a very rare blue variety of the mineral pectolite that is only found in one small area of the Dominican Republic. The locals knew about the existence of stone for many generations, since the stones were periodically thrown into the sea shore, but only in the 1970-ies it was found enough of them in the earth, to open the mine.
4. Paraiba Tourmaline
Brazil
Tourmalines of various colors are found throughout Brazil, but Paraiba tourmaline is the only stone with a bright turquoise tint due to the copper content in it. A very rare gemstone was discovered in 1987 by Heitor Dimas Barbosa, who was sure that Arabskie hills hide a completely different jewels (and was right).
The peculiarity of this stone is that passing through a light, Paraiba tourmaline make something like a neon glow. In 2003 a very similar tourmaline turquoise was discovered in the mines in the mountains of Nigeria and Mozambique.
5. Grandidierite
Madagascar
Grandidierite was first described in 1902 by French mineralogist Alfred Lacroix, who found it in Madagascar and was named in honor of French Explorer Alfred Grandidier. This extremely rare blue-green mineral was found in a number of places around the world, but only on Madagascar and Sri Lanka meet gem-quality stones. Most of the stones are translucent, but the rarest and therefore most valuable stone, which was found to be transparent.
6. Alexandrite
Russia
An amazing stone that can change its colour, was discovered in 1830 in the Ural mountains of Russia and named after Czar Alexander II. Alexandrite is a variety of chrysoberyl and in the sunlight it looks like blue-green, but in the light of the bulb becomes red-purple. The price of this precious stone weighing up to 1 carat is $ 15 000, but a stone weighing more than one carat will cost $ 70 000 per carat.
7. Benitoite
USA
Benitoite is mined only in one small area of California, near the river San Benito (hence the name), but the mine was closed for commercial mining operations in 2006, making this gem even more rare. The gemstone was first discovered in 1907 by geologist George Louderback. It has a deep blue color, which shows especially interesting features when it is irradiated with UV light, the stone begins to glow fluorescent glow.
8. Peynit
Myanmar
Peynit was first discovered by the British mineralogist Arthur Charles Payne in 1951 and was recognized as a new mineral in 1957 for many years, there was only one sample of a dark red crystal that was kept in the British Museum in London, making it the world’s rarest gemstone. It was later discovered other specimens, although 2004 was less than two dozen pantov. In 2006 was opened one more field in Myanmar, which already got more than 1000 stones, but they are of lower quality.
9. Red beryl
Mexico
Red beryl, also known as bixbite or red emerald, so rare that Geological survey of the state of Utah declared that is produced only one stone for every 150,000 diamonds of jeweller quality. Pure beryl is colorless and gets its color from impurities: chromium and vanadium give the beryl-green, forming emerald; iron adds blue or yellow, creating aquamarine and Golden beryl, and manganese adds deep red color to form red beryl.
Red beryl is found only in the American States of Utah, new Mexico, and in Mexico, but most of the stones only a few millimetres in length (i.e., too small to be cut and to cut).
10. Taaffeite
China
Austrian-Irish mineralogist count Edward Charles Richard Taaff bought a box of cut stones from a jeweller in Dublin in the 1940-ies, thinking that he had acquired a collection of spinels. But upon closer inspection, he noted that one of pale lilac stones did not react to light the same way as the rest of the spinels, so he sent it off for analysis. The results showed that the count had discovered a previously unknown gem.
Over time, the source of taaffeite found in Sri Lanka, although a few stones were also found in Tanzania and China. It is believed that there are less than 50 gems, making it so rare that the average person is unlikely to ever encounter him.
