“It’s called kyawthuite (cha-too-ite), a tiny, tawny-hued grain weighing just a third of a gram (1.61 carats). On first glance, you might mistaken it for amber or topaz; but the unassuming mineral speck has value beyond measure.”

    • @jordanlundOP
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      242 days ago

      FTA:

      “mineralogists were able to relate the stone to synthetic BiSbO4 – bismuth antimonate – though with the formula Bi3+Sb5+O4, an arrangement never before found in nature.”

      So we’ve already KINDA done it, just with less Bi+Sb.

    • @Rapidcreek
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      192 days ago

      It’s the only known natural occurrence of a mineral that (as it happens) has also been synthesized. Many minerals are available as exact synthetics. Diamond is an example.

    • Skua
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      fedilink
      102 days ago

      It seems like we don’t know how it was made in nature, so probably not. We can’t replicate the process until we figure out what it is