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Formula: Na,Ca,☐)8(Al6Si6)O24
(CO3,SO4)2.2H2O
Tectosilicate (framework silicate), cancrinite group,
feldspathoid
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Specific gravity: 2.42 to 2.51 measured, 2.49 calculated
Hardness: 5 to 6
Streak: White
Colour: Grey-green, white, yellow, blue, orange, reddish
Solubility: It is unusual among the silicate minerals in that it is moderately soluble in hydrochloric acid due to the
carbonate ions in its structure.
Common impurities: Ti,Fe,Mg,K,Cl,S
Environments:
Plutonic igneous environments
Pegmatites
Metamorphic environments
Cancrinite is a primary mineral in some
alkaline igneous rocks, including
pegmatites
in nepheline syenite. It is also an alteration product of
nepheline in igneous rocks (HOM). Associated minerals include
andradite, monticellite,
natrolite, nepheline,
orthoclase, zircon and
sodalite
(Mindat, HOM).
Localities
At Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Quebec, Canada, cancrinite
pseudomorphs after natrolite
have been found with rhodochrosite
(KL p265).
The type locality is the Ilmen Nature Reserve, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia.
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