IFL Science
By Maddy Chapman
January 9, 2024
When people want to possess something unique it usually has to be human-made, not a piece of the Earth. After all, we live on a large planet, and if geologic forces produce a particular mineral in one spot, there’s a pretty good chance they will make it somewhere else as well. Indeed, of the 6,000 minerals recognized by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), many are formed by multiple processes, with quite different chemistry leading to identical outcomes.
Even if a mineral did only form once, samples could easily be broken up and dispersed over a wide area. Consequently, it’s somewhat remarkable any mineral would be known from just a single sample. However, that’s the case for one crystal, kyawthuite.