The 9 Most Expensive Minerals - Rarest.org (2023)

The world's most expensive minerals are judged on their scarcity, composition, color and clarity. Some are so durable they can be used in expensive drill rigs, while others are so brittle they can only be used in luxury jewelry.

Read on for our list of the 9 most expensive minerals in the world, including the chemical makeup they are formed from, the mines they come from, and the properties that make them so ridiculously expensive.

9. Toffee

Wert:$2.500/Karat
Those:Tanzania, Sri Lanka
Colour:violet
Composition:Magnesium-Beryllium-Aluminiumoxid

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

Taftis a recent discovery in the gemstone world, identified in Dublin, Ireland in 1945 but sourced from Tanzania. Sri Lanka is another important source of taaffeite, a place that will appear on this list more than once.

Taaffeite is a purple stone containing magnesium, beryllium and aluminum. The mineral was discovered by Richard Taaffe, who thought it was a spinel and had it cut as one. This makes taaffeite the only gemstone that was first identified in the form of a cut jewel. Taaffeite is worth up to $2,500 per carat.

This mineral forms in carbonate rocks, which also produce spinel, mica, and tourmaline. Lesser grades of the mineral have been discovered in China, but Tanzania and Sri Lanka are still the only places in the world with gem-quality taaffeite.

Did you know?

Analysis confirmed the presence of both beryllium and magnesium in taaffeite, making it the first known mineral to contain both elements in 1951. Despite being nearly identical in appearance to spinel, taaffeite is unique in composition and still rare enough to be used exclusively as a gemstone.

8. Alexandrite

Wert:$12.000/Karat
Those:Brazil, Sri Lanka
Colour:Rot, lilac, blau
Composition:Chrysoberyll

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

Alexandriteis a birthstone (June) and is popularly known as the “Friday Child”. Unlike many stones whose origins are rooted in cultural lore, alexandrite was not discovered until the 19th century^thCentury, when it was discovered in 1830 in the Ural Mountains in local emerald mines.

Alexandrite can appear like an emerald until it hits the light and glows red and purple. Because of these colors, alexandrite became the official stone of tsarist Russia, named after Tsar Alexander. Well-formed alexandrite can be worth $12,000 per carat.

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Until recently, alexandrite was not discovered in any source outside of the emerald mines in Russia from which it originally came. It was finally found in mines in Brazil and Sri Lanka in the 1980s, giving gem dealers an opportunity to source the stone. For a while, Tiffany's completely cornered the market on Alexandrite due to its scarcity.

7. Coincidence

Wert:18.000 $/Karat
Those:Sri Lanka
Colour:silver black
Composition:Inosilikate

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

Coincidenceis a rare mineral in the group of inosilicates discovered in Sri Lanka in 1902 and is still the most important source of serendibites worldwide. It was found by a man named Gunasekera but named after the old word for Sri Lanka itself, "serendib".

This mineral forms a glassy black crystal with clear facets and a lustrous, almost silvery crust. The rocks that form Serendibite are called 'skarns', which are boron-rich deposits interspersed with granite, which can also form spinel, another rare mineral. Serendibit can be worth $18,000 per carat if well formed.

Did you know?

The island nation of Sri Lanka in South Asia has the Gulf of Mannar between it and India and just a strait between it and the luxurious holiday destination of the Maldives. The capital is Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte.

6. It will be loud

Wert:$20.000/Karat
Those:Madagascar
Colour:Blue green
Composition:And silicate

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

The blue-green or blue mineral known asHe will growlis a rare mineral first found in Madagascar in 1902 and named after the discoverer who found it, Frenchman Alfred Grandidier.

The mineral looks bluer when it contains more iron and greener when it contains less.

Grandidierite is part of a mineral classification known as nesosilicates, which are iron-bearing minerals with tetrahedral atoms. Others in this group are topaz, garnet, and willemite. A well-colored grandidierite can be worth as much as $20,000 per carat.

Did you know?

Grandidierite is a mineral with a "trichromic pleochroism," which is a fancy way of saying it can show up to three colors depending on how you look at it in the light. From certain angles it can appear dark blue, dark green or even colourless/clear.

5. Heat

Wert:$55.000/Karat
Those:Burma
Colour:Rot
Composition:Calcium, zirconium, aluminum, boron, oxygen

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

Heatcomes from the borate mineral group and contains traces of several elements, including chromium, which is responsible for the element's reddish-brown or orange color. Several of these elements rarely interact naturally, making successfully formed painite extremely rare.

Painite is only found in Myanmar. Because of their composition and rarity, they were discovered before the 21st century^stCentury. The mineral was confused with a ruby ​​until the 1950s, when it was named after British gem dealer Arthur C.D. named who found it. Pains. Well-formed painite can be worth around $55,000/carat.

Did you know?

Painite is only found in Myanmar and nowhere in Myanmar except Mogok in appreciable quantities. Located in the Pyin Oo Lwin district, this city was probably founded as early as 1217 by Shan hunters after they discovered rubies there.

4. Emerald

Wert:100.000 $/Karat
Those:Colombia, Zambia, Brazil
Colour:Green
Composition:Beryll

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

Smaragdeare forms of the mineral beryl, colored green by traces of the elements chromium and vanadium. Emeralds have a medium-high hardness, but their toughness is low compared to other elements, making them fragile compared to other precious stones like diamonds.

For most gemstones, color is the primary characteristic that determines value. With emeralds, however, clarity is just as important, with visual transparency being a great value criterion. The most valuable emeralds are worth up to $100,000 per carat.

Did you know?

The word 'emerald' derives from Old French and Middle English words like 'emeraude', which go back to the ancient Greek word for 'green gem', 'smáragdos'.

3. Sapphire

Wert:$100.000+/Karat
Those:Burma, Thailand, Kashmir
Colour:blue green
Composition:Corundum

photo source:Flickr

Sapphireare forms of corundum, an alumina mineral reinforced by iron, titanium, chromium, magnesium and vanadium. Sapphires are blue in color but also come in other varieties such as yellow or purple. Some even show multiple colors - these are called partisaphirs. When pink, sapphires are sometimes sold as rubies.

Sapphires are the third hardest mineral in the world, which is why they are used not only for decoration but also for electronic components. Sapphires are used in infrared optical devices, crystals in luxury watches, and circuitry in LEDs.

The best shaped solid sapphires can cost $100,000 per carat or even more.

Did you know?

Sapphires are named after the Greek word for blue "sapheiros", derived from the Latin word for blue "saphirus".

2. Diamond

Wert:2.500 bis 1 Million US-Dollar/Karat
Those:Africa, India, Australia
Colour:Various
Composition:carbon

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

Diamond, by far the best-known mineral on this list, is a hard carbon formation that formed slowly over many years. Its hardness and thermal conductivity make diamonds ideal not only for beauty products, but also for industrial tools like drill bits and polishing machines.

Diamonds vary widely in color and value, ranging from the standard white diamonds, which can be worth around $2,500 per carat, to the colored varieties, which with the right cut can be worth $1 million per carat for the mineral alone. If the stone itself is famous, this number could be even higher.

Did you know?

Red diamonds are by default the most valuable, found primarily in the Argyle diamond heads of Western Australia. There are 12 colors in total, other rare ones are blue and pink diamonds.

1. Jadeite

Wert:$3 million/carat
Those:Burma
Colour:green white
Composition:Pyroxene

photo source:Wikimedia Commons

The most expensive mineral is jadeite. It is a hard, dense mineral made from a form of pyroxenes, which harden into green and white stones found in subduction zones. Like many minerals on this list, Myanmar or Burma is the perfect geological region for jadeite formation, where it forms in local rocks at high pressure and low temperatures.

Jadeiteis more famous in its diluted form than jade, a stone prized in China and throughout Asia. As early as the Stone Age, the high strength and density of jade was used to make work tools and other equipment. Today, jadeite is purely decorative and is valued at $3 million per carat.

Did you know?

Subduction zones refer to areas where one tectonic plate is sinking beneath another to form continental crust. Earthquakes are common in subduction zones, but they are also fertile growing areas for dense minerals like jadeite.