Cancrinite is one of the rarer silicate minerals. Cancrinite was originally first discovered in 1839 in the Ural Mountains in Russia, it is named after Georg von Cancrin, a Russian minister of finance. Famous localities are Alno, Sweden; Fen district, Norway; Iivaara, Finland; and Iron Hill, Colorado in the USA.

Within the metaphysical realm of minerals, Cancrinite facilitates meditation and creates a protective shield of golden light and connection with the earth, and is therefore useful in astral travel.

Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that minerals should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.

Cancrinite is generally used as a lapidary mineral.

Cancrinite is found in metamorphic rocks and in contact zones between limestone and igneous intrusives.

Cancrinite is a complex carbonate and silicate of sodium, calcium and aluminum. It is classed as a member of the feldspathoid group of minerals; the alkali feldspars that are poor in silica. It is unusual among the silicate minerals in that it will effervesce with hydrochloric acid due to the associated carbonate ions.

Cleavage	Perfect
Colour(s)	Blue, Colourless, Gray green, Yellow, White
Specific Gravity	2.45
Diaphaneity	Translucent to Transparent
Fracture	Conchoidal - Very brittle fracture producing small concoidal fragments
Mohs Hardness	6.0
Luminescence	Non-fluorescent
Luster	Vitreous
Streak	White
Habit(s)	Massive to Prismatic
Radioactivity	Non-radioactive
Magnetism	Non-magnetic

No known health risks have been associated with cancrinite. However ingestion of cancrinite, as with other naturally occurring minerals, is not recommended.

The following image shows the elemental breakdown of the mineral cancrinite along with the mineral crystal structure.

Crystal System	Hexagonal
Class	Pyramidal
Axial Ratios	a : c = 1 : 0.40551
Morphology	Rarely prismatic crystals
Optical Data Type	Uniaxial (+/-)
Dichroism (e)	Colourless
Dichroism (w)	Colourless
Pleochroism (z)	None
RL Values	nω = 1.507 - 1.528 nε = 1.495 - 1.503
2V	N/A
Max Birefringence	δ = 0.012 - 0.025 (See colour chart at right)
Surface Relief	Low

Cancrinite cannot be referenced in certain current and historical texts under any other names:

Other than in the basic mineral form, cancrinite cannot be found in any other distinct varieties:

The mineral cancrinite can be translated into the following select languages:

Arabic		Bulgarian		Chinese (Sim)	钙霞石
Croatian		Czech		Danish
Dutch	cancriniet	Esperanto		Estonian
Finnish		French		German	Cancrinit
Greek	κανκρινίτης	Hebrew		Hungarian
Italian		Japanese	カンクリナイト	Korean	칸크리나읻
Latin		Lithuanian		Norwegian
Persian		Polish		Portuguese	cancrinita
Romanian		Russian	Канкринит	Slovak
Spanish	Cancrinita	Swedish		Tagalog
Turkish	kankrinit	Ukrainian	Канкрін	Vietnamese

The MIROFOSS database offers free printable geological identification tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify mineral samples in your collection. -Click here- to download a full size jpeg image for a cancrinite identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

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Chemical Composition	Deer, W.A., R.A. Howie, and J. Zussman (1963) Rock-forming minerals, vol. 4, framework silicates, 310-320.
Crystallography	Grundy, H.D. and I. Hassan (1982) The crystal structure of a carbonate-rich cancrinite. Canadian Mineralogist: 20: 239-251.
Optical Data	Dana, E.S. (1892) System of Mineralogy, 6th. Edition, New York: 427-428.
History	Canadian Mineralogist: 20: 239-251.
History	Anthony, J.W., Bideaux, R.A., Bladh, K.W., and Nichols, M.C. (1995) Handbook of Mineralogy, Volume II. Silica, Silicates. Mineral Data Publishing, Tucson, AZ, 904pp., 2 sub-volumes: 109.
Geographical Data	Mindat.org. Retrieved on 2012-08-10
Physical Identification	Webmineral.com. Retrieved on 2012-08-10
November 24, 2013	The last time this page was updated
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