CANAVESITE

    Class : Carbonates, nitrates, borates
    Subclass : Borates
    Crystal system : Monoclinic
    Chemistry : Mg2(CO3)(HBO3) 5H2O
    Rarity : Very rare

Canavesite is an extremely rare magnesium borate whose structure also includes anionic groups (CO3), making it an intermediate mineral between borate and carbonate. It is a ludwigite skarn alteration mineral. Its name comes from its locality of discovery : the district of Canavese in Italian Piedmont. It comes in white fibers gathered in rosettes.

Main photo: Canavesite from Brosso Mine, Calea, Lessolo, Piedmond, Italy © Stephan Wolfsried

Canavesite in the World

It is a mineral which is only known in crystals in the magnetite skarn of its discovery location : the Brosso Mine (Piedmond, Italy). It comes in white rosettes 3 mm in diameter. Canavesite is also described at Sterling Mine (New Jersey).

Right photo : Canavesite from Brosso Mine, Calea, Lessolo, Piedmond, Italy © Yaiba Sakaguchi

Canavesite in France

Canavesite is not present in the French underground.

Twinning

No twin known for this mineral species.

Fakes and treatments

No fake identified for this mineral species.


Hardness : -
Density : 1.79
Fracture : -
Streak : White

TP : Transparent
RI : 1.485 to 1.505
Birefringence : 0.020
Optical character : Biaxial +
Pleochroism : None
Fluorescence : None

Solubility : -


Magnetism : None
Radioactivity : None