Poudretteite, pronounced “poo-dret-tay-ite” is a rare borosilicate mineral first discovered in the 1960s but not formally recognised as a mineral until 1986 (IMA1986-028).
Named after the Poudrette family, original owners of the Poudrette Quarry where the mineral was first discovered.
Poudretteite is a member of the Osumilite Group, formula -KNa2B3Si12O30, crystal system hexagonal and hardness 5. The Type Locality being Poudrette Quarry, Mont Saint-Hilaire (MSH), Québec, Canada.
Originally the mineral was only found in small grains or fragments and considered extremely rare, much prized amongst the MSH collectors who could actually acquire a piece.
This story changed in 2000 when another find was made in Mogok, Myanmar. This discovery provided a range of larger facetable crystals. Producing small clean stones clear to pink-purple in colour with strong pleochrism along the c-axis.
Bringing this up-to-date an there has been another small find 2018 with some excellent terminated crystals to 20mm.
Word is that if you want one of these you will have to dig deep - a 7mm crystal was reported to me as having changed hands for over $10,000.
The specimen featured with us is from Poudrette Quarry and is our one and only specimen ever offered. At .8mm it really is tiny, but it probably will be a very long time before another specimen comes along again - either from Poudrette or Myanmar!