The mineral cavansite derives its name from its chemical composition as a calcium vanadium silicate. Cavansite is a deep blue hydrous calcium vanadium phyllosilicate mineral, occurring as a secondary mineral in basaltic and andesitic rocks along with a variety of zeolite minerals. Discovered in 1967 in Malheur County, Oregon, cavansite is a relatively rare mineral. It is polymorphic with the even rarer mineral, pentagonite. It is most frequently found in Poona, India and in the Deccan Traps, a large igneous province.

Within the metaphysical rehlm of minerals, Cavansite aids in many psychic areas. It can stimulate the believer's intuition greatly, heightens psychic awareness, stimulates their Third Eye, strengthens all of the Clairs and enhances channeling abilities. It is especially helpful in psychic healing and protects the believer during psychic healing sessions. Emotionally, Cavansite helps get rid of negative thoughts and beliefs, and inspires new ideas. It helps the believer to see what part of life needs their attention and can draw in information from other dimensions and realities that their soul is partaking in simultaneously, including past and future.

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.

While cavansite does contain vanadium, and could be a possible ore source for the element, its rich colour and relative rarity, make cavansite a sought after collector's mineral.

Cavansite is a secondary mineral in basalts and andesites.

Cavansite is a distinctive mineral. It tends to form crystal aggregates, generally in the form of balls, up to a couple centimeters in size. Sometimes the balls are coarse enough to allow the individual crystals to be seen. Rarely, cavansite forms bow tie shaped aggregates. The colour of cavansite is distinctive, almost always a rich, bright blue. Also the other minerals that are associated with cavansite are useful for identification, as cavansite is frequently found sitting atop a matrix of zeolites or apophyllites.

Cleavage	Good
Colour(s)	Greenish blue, Dark blue
Specific Gravity	2.25
Diaphaneity	Subtranslucent
Fracture	Brittle
Mohs Hardness	3.0 to 4.0
Luminescence	Non-fluorescent
Luster	Vitreous
Streak	Bluish White
Habit(s)	Prismatic
Radioactivity	Non-radioactive
Magnetism	Non-magnetic

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

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

Crystal System	Orthorhombic
Class	Dipyramidal
Axial Ratios	a : b : c = 0.7148 : 1 : 0.7019
Morphology	Spherulitic rosettes
Optical Data Type	Biaxial (+)
Pleochroism (x)	Colourless
Pleochroism (y)	Blue
Pleochroism (z)	Colourless
RL Values	nα = 1.542(2) nβ = 1.544(2) nγ = 1.551(2)
2V	Measured: 52° , Calculated: 58°
Max Birefringence	δ = 0.009 (See colour chart at right)
Surface Relief	Low
Dispersion	r < v extreme

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

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

Arabic		Bulgarian		Chinese (Sim)
Croatian		Czech		Danish
Dutch	Cavansiet	Esperanto		Estonian
Finnish		French		German	Cavansit
Greek		Hebrew		Hungarian
Italian		Japanese	カビンチャイト	Korean	카빈차잍으
Latin		Lithuanian		Norwegian
Persian		Polish	Cavansyt	Portuguese
Romanian		Russian	Кавансит	Slovak
Spanish	Cavansita	Swedish		Tagalog
Turkish		Ukrainian		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 cavansite identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

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Chemical Composition	shida, N., Kimata, M., Nishida, N., Hatta, T., Shimizu, M., Akasaka, T. (2009): Polymorphic relation between cavansite and pentagonite: Genetic implications of oxonium ion in cavansite. Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences, 104, 241-252
Crystallography	Evans, H.T., Jr. (1973): The crystal structures of cavansite and pentagonite. Amer. Mineral., 58, 412-424.
History	Staples, L.W., H.T. Evans, Jr., and J.R. Lindsay (1973): Cavansite and pentagonite, new dimorphous calcium vanadium silicate minerals from Oregon. Amer. Mineral., 58, 405-411.
Geograpcial Data	Mindat.org. Retrieved on 2012-07-15
Physical Identification	Webmineral.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-15.
November 24, 2013	The last time this page was updated
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