Jervisite

jervisite

scandium

cascandite

Baveno

Images

Formula: NaSc3+Si2O6
Inosilicate (chain silicate), single chains, clinopyroxene subgroup, pyroxene group, scandium-bearing mineral
Crystal System: Monoclinic
Specific gravity: 3.31 calculated
Hardness: 6
Streak: White
Colour: Light green
Common impurities: Ti,Al,Mn
Environments

Plutonic igneous environments

Localities

At the type locality, the Giacomini Quarry, Agrano, Omegna, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola Province, Piedmont, Italy, two new (in 1982) mineral phases, cascandite and jervisite, join kolbeckite and thortveitite as rare minerals in which scandium occurs as an essential, major constituent. It seems remarkable that three of these four scandium silicates (not kolbeckite) were found in the granite of Baveno.
The rarity of scandium minerals is a result of its crystal chemical behaviour; the bulk of the element is dispersed in very small amounts among minerals formed in the early stages of magmatic differentiation, mainly pyroxenes, amphiboles and biotite; only a very small amount passes through the magmatic stage and enters pegmatitic, pneumatolitic and hydrothermal deposits (AM 67.599-603).
Jervisite occurs in miarolitic cavities in granite, associated with cascandite, quartz, orthoclase and albite (HOM).
Jervisite from the Baveno granites - Image

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