PAINITE has lost it status as one of the ten rarest gemstones in the world with the discovery of large deposits near Mogok in Mandalay Division.

The presence of the deposit – located near the village of Wetloo-inn, about 20 kilometres west of Mogok – had been known to a few local villagers and gem dealers for about two years but only became more widely known in the country about six months ago, said Ko Kyaw Thu, a gemmologist and crystal dealer.

“This mother source of Painite was discovered by locals about two years ago and it was kept secret at that time, but later everyone in the area knew about it,” he said.

“More than 100 pieces of Painite have been found there, with the smallest being 0.5 carat and the biggest 50 carats,” Ko Kyaw Thu said.

With the discovery of such a large deposit, the gem can no longer be considered one of the 10 rarest in the world, he said.

“The advantage of the discovery is that now people in Myanmar can see many samples of Painite, which at one time could only be seen in museums in the US, but the disadvantage is that the status of the gemstone will go down, which means that people will lose interest in it and its value will drop,” he said.
Last November a doctorate student, Ko Kyaw Khine Win, discovered two Painite stones during a field trip to Kachin State in upper Myanmar.

Before this only 18 Painite stones had ever been found, the first in Myanmar in the 1950s.