Cavansite from India
Cavansite from India is one of our Top 100 minerals for Collectors .
What is Cavansite?
Cavansite is a Calcium and Vanadium Silicate (hence the name, CA VAN SI te) usually found in radial balls of electric blue crystals associated with Stilbite and other zeolite minerals.
The original finds came from Oregon, USA - but by far the best quality Cavansite crystals in recent years have come from the Deccan Plateau Basalt quarries in India.
Similar Minerals
Cavansite has an almost-identical twin, called Pentagonite. This mineral shares an identical chemical formula, and the same electric blue colour. It is found in the same places as Cavansite, but has a different crystal form (sometimes resembling small Christmas Trees). It is more expensive than Cavansite.
Other Localities
As well as India, mindat.org reports that Cavansite is found in Brazil, New Zealand and, of course Oregon. The Owyhee Dam area in Oregon is the type locality of Cavansite, and samples from this locality are still frequently seen on the market, although they are of a much poorer quality than the material from India.
Buying Tips
Good specimens consist of one or more damage-free balls of blue crystals on a sparkling white matrix of Stilbite. Detached balls, or balls that are broken through (revealing the radial crystal structure), while aesthetic in their own right, are not valued as highly by collectors.
