What's the rarest mineral?

Discussion in 'Earth Science' started by John J. Bannan, Jun 27, 2007.

  1. John J. Bannan Registered Senior Member

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    Gold? Diamonds? Opal? What's it worth?
     
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  3. John99 Banned Banned

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    Do you mean rarest as in least abundant or rarest in appearance compared to other minerals?...i don't know either way.
     
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  5. John J. Bannan Registered Senior Member

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    Rarest in least abundance.
     
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  7. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    that you can buy?
     
  8. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    i think there are minerals that are so rare we have not named them yet. gold diamond and platinum are not that rare compared to some. they are commercialy available and are sold openly to the public. there are minerals that are very rare. and i might not be 100% correct but i think there are minerals that decay so fast that we cant hold them in true state for long.

    painite is considered very rare, maybe even the rarest.


    peace.
     
  9. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    meteorites
     
  10. orcot Valued Senior Member

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    try painite not the most rarest but on the good track
     
  11. John J. Bannan Registered Senior Member

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    Meteorites from Mars?
     
  12. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    already said that in post #5.

    peace.
     
  13. Captain Kremmen All aboard, me Hearties! Valued Senior Member

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    Hapkeite? . Just one bit of one meteorite.
     
  14. Communist Hamster Cricetulus griseus leninus Valued Senior Member

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    Californium is rather expensive, from what I have heard. As are most of the synthetic elements, I guess.
     
  15. Orleander OH JOY!!!! Valued Senior Member

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    Meteorites from somewhere we've never imagined. That would be rare.
     
  16. MetaKron Registered Senior Member

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    I think it's Kryptonite. The white borosilicate type was just discovered on Earth this year.
     
  17. matthyaouw Registered Senior Member

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  18. EmptyForceOfChi Banned Banned

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    last year.

    peace.
     
  19. oreodont I am God Registered Senior Member

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    As a geologist I would caution that any term needs defining. 'Mineral' has all types of definitions. Often it includes 'naturally occuring' in the definition but even that can be open to debate as man is a subset of Nature and anything we do is 'natural'. Other definitions include things like 'geologic' in origin, etc.

    Items that occur naturally through geologic process on Earth are difficult to measure. Few elements such as gold or diamond crystals are 'rare' as much as they are difficult to obtain. Man hasn't mined a trillionth of the diamonds available on Earth or a fraction of the gold but we've mined the easily obtainable deposits that are within our technological capability.

    Another way to put the question is what element or mineral makes up the least percent of the Earth's mass. I don't know and don't think it could be known. The elements such as technetium (spelling?) and promethium at atomic breaks (40 something and 60 something) are unstable so minerals, if any associated with these would be rare. There's just not enough info on the minutia of the makeup of the Earth below the crust.

    The answer: 'We don't know"
     
  20. oreodont I am God Registered Senior Member

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    What's interesting is that we can often predict with good certainty that certain crystal structures should exist naturally without ever actually discovering them.
     
  21. John J. Bannan Registered Senior Member

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    Oreodont. What's the rarest naturally occuring mineral you know of?
     
  22. nietzschefan Thread Killer Valued Senior Member

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    iridium maybe?
     
  23. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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    The rarest mineral is indeed thee female willing to couple.

    Disclaimer: This is meant as a joke and to bring joy to the other members of the community, please do not be angry :C~
     

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