Canasite Gemstone: Properties, Meanings, Value & More

Canasite is a lesser-known collector’s mineral often seen for sale as purple specimens. The stone is known for its industrial uses (particularly in glass-ceramics) and rarity.

Speaking of which, canasite is relatively rare as a mineral and even more rarely seen on the gemstone market. Most often, you’ll see canasite inside the rare, swirled violet charoite.

Eager to know more? You’re in luck! We’ve used our expertise from decades in the gemstone industry to bring you this comprehensive guide on canasite, including its properties, varieties, prices, and more.

Pictured above: Small grain of yellow canasite in a matrix | Image credit: Leon Hupperichs

About Canasite Stone

Individually, canasite is a rare semi-precious gemstone usually found in greenish-yellow hues. However, much of canasite’s identity is wrapped up in other stones.

Most often, it’s available on the gemstone market as a component of charoite. Canasite can make the charoite have a radial & fibrous texture, translucent portions, and/or lighter color.

Individually, purple canasite is often mixed up with stichtite, which is similarly found most often in another stone (serpentine). However, stichtite is usually fibrous and shiny, whereas canasite is usually granular. Plus, stichtite is only 1.5 to 2.5 on the Mohs scale, much softer than canasite.

Outside the gem world, what is canasite used for?

Canasite Uses

Industrially, the main use for canasite is glass-ceramics.

Glass-ceramics are materials composed of crystals dispersed in a glassy matrix, formed through heat treatment. Thanks to their structure, glass-ceramics are more durable than glass.

Glass-ceramics can be used for:

• Heated kitchenware (e.g. pots, pans, stoves)

• Telescopic mirrors (often used in transportation inspections)

• Protective glass on smartphones (e.g. Apple's Ceramic Shield)

• Clothes irons

• Insulators (often in high-temperature furnaces)

Perhaps most notably, canasite and fluorcanasite are frequently used to create bioactive glass-ceramics, which are synthetic materials used for medical treatments — typically bone-bonding and dental restorations.

Additionally, canasite has been studied for its potential as an alternative substrate for making thin film media (coatings on various technologies like computer hard disk drives).

Canasite Specifications & Characteristics

Canasite is a potassium sodium calcium silicate hydroxide. The formula approved by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is K3Na3Ca5Si12O30(OH)4.

The mineral is in the eponymous canasite group, along with its varieties frankamenite and fluorcanasite (more on those next).

In terms of habits, canasite usually occurs as tiny grains that often exhibit twinning, sometimes polysynthetic twinning (multiple, parallel twins). Canasite minerals are also found as platy aggregates or masses.

Here are canasite’s properties listed, with properties for its varieties specified when they differ from those of canasite:

• Mohs hardness: 5.5-6; Frankamenite – 5.5; Fluorcanasite – 5

• Color: Pale green, grayish-green, greenish-yellow, brownish-yellow; Frankamanite – Greenish-blue, bluish-gray, greenish-gray, grayish-lilac, pale green; Fluorcanasite – Purple, pale yellow

• Crystal structure: Monoclinic; Frankamenite – Triclinic

• Luster: Vitreous (glassy)

• Transparency: Translucent to transparent; Fluorcanasite – Transparent

• Refractive index: 1.534-1.543; Frankamenite – 1.536-1.542; Fluorcanasite – 1.538-1.549

• Density: 2.707; Frankamenite & Fluorcanasite – 2.68

• Cleavage: Perfect 1 direction, good/distinct 1 direction (118° to first direction); Frankamenite – Good/distinct on {010} & {100}; Fluorcanasite – Perfect on {001}, eminent on {100} & {201}

• Fracture: Splintery (breaks into acute or wedge-shaped pieces); Fluorcanasite – Hackly/jagged on b axis (along extension) & step-like on a and c axes (other directions)

• Streak: White; Frankamenite – Pale blue

• Luminescence: None

• Pleochroism: None; Fluorcanasite – Strong in amber-yellow, purple, and lilac

• Birefringence: 0.009; Frankamenite – 0.006; Fluorcanasite – 0.011

• Dispersion: Weak; Frankamenite – Strong; Fluorcanasite – Medium

Now let’s take a closer look at those varieties.

Types of Canasite

Canasite has two varieties: frankamenite and fluorcanasite.

Frankamenite

The first type of canasite is frankamenite, which can be shades of green, blue, or gray, including greenish-blue and lilac gray. Frankamenite is distinguished from canasite by having water, more fluorine, and triclinic crystal symmetry. The IMA approved formula is K3Na3Ca5Si12O30F3(OH)·H2O.

A group of Russian mineralogists led by L.V. Nikishova found the mineral in charoitic rocks within the Murunskii Massif. In the first 1992 report, they called it “triclinic canasite,” but changed it to frankamenite in 1996 to honor Russian crystallographer Victor Albertovitch Frank-Kamenetsky who had died in 1994.

Fluorcanasite

The second canasite variety is fluorcanasite, similarly discovered in Russia. This purple fluorine-dominant analogue of canasite has the IMA formula K3Na3Ca5Si12O30F4·H2O — more fluorine than frankamenite but no hydroxide.

Another group of Russian mineralogists led by Alexander P. Khomyakov first reported fluorcanasite in 2003 from the Khibiny Alkaline Massif. They originally called it “F-canasite” but adjusted the name to “fluorcanasite” in 2009.

Pictured above: Sample of charoite with frankamenite inclusions | Image credit: Study by Kaneva, E.; Shendrik, R.; Pankrushina, E.; Dokuchits, E.; Radomskaya, T.; Pechurin, M.; Ushakov, A., CC-BY-SA-4.0

Canasite History

A group of Russian mineralogists led by Moisei Davidovich Dorfman first reported canasite in 1959. They found canasite as crystals in pegmatites located at Material'naya Adit in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.

What is the meaning of the name canasite?

The name “canasite” is a portmanteau of the main elements in its chemical composition: calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), and silicon (Si).

Much of the English translation is thanks to Michael Fleischer, an American geochemist who worked with the US Geological Survey where he translated around 900 Russian articles into English.

Canasite Healing Properties

As a popularly purple healing stone, canasite’s meaning reflects the wisdom- and spirituality-enhancing properties of other purple gemstones. It can also be used as a third eye or crown chakra stone.

Physical Healing

Physically, canasite crystals are said to treat issued related to:

• Metabolism

• Immune system function

• Toxicity

• Nervous system\

• Sleep

Emotional Healing

Emotionally, crystal healers recommend canasite for:

• Increasing self-awareness

• Letting go of bad habits or attachments

• Protecting yourself from negative energies

• Transforming your thought patterns toward goal manifestation

Canasite Gemstone Properties

Besides its rarity, the factors that determine canasite’s value as a gemstone include its color, cut, clarity/transparency, and size.

Color

Most often, canasite is some shade of green to yellow. The best canasite gemstones on the market in terms of popularity, however, are shades of purple.

Cut

Finding faceted canasite gems is very rare. Most canasites available to buy are in charoite cabochons or sold rough (uncut).

Clarity & Transparency

Clarity describes the degree of inclusions in a stone, which can lower its transparency and value. Since canasite is rarely sold on its own, clarity doesn’t affect its value much. However, distinct, transparent canasite crystals are rarer and pricier.

Most often, canasite is an inclusion in stones like charoite.

Carat Weight & Size

Canasite crystals are always small, only up to about 10 cm (~4 in). Massive canasite material, however, can be larger. Platy canasite aggregates can be up to about 20 cm (~8 in).

Pictured above: Aldan Shield region in southeast Siberian Craton; Modification: Added craton detail from Bjoertvedt | Image credit: Bjoertvedt, CC-BY-SA-3.0

Canasite Formation & Sources

Canasite is found in pegmatites and charoitic rocks, which are only found in Siberia, Russia.

The mineral forms when metasomatism (like metamorphism, but significantly changing the chemical composition) brings potassium to syenite massifs that contact limestone, creating a potassium feldspar rock where canasite and frankamenite are found.

Besides charoite, other commonly associated minerals include:

• Aegirine

• Biotite

• Eudialyte

• Fenaksite

• Laprophyllite

• Microcline

• Nepheline

• Orthoclase

• Pyroxene

• Pyroxene

• Titanite

Mining Locations

So far, canasite has only been found in Russia — specifically, the Murmansk Oblast and Aldan Shield regions.

One find of canasite in Namibia has been reported but not confirmed.

Canasite Price & Value

As you know, most canasite products you’ll see are charoite stones with canasite in them. When cut as cabochons, these canasite charoites go for about $2.50 to $6 per carat or about $100 to $240 each.

Tumbled canasite in charoite stones are about $0.20 to $0.30 per gram ($0.04 to $0.06 per carat) or $20 to $30 for a pack. Rough specimens of charoite with canasite go for around $50.

Canasite rough without charoite — though often attached to other minerals like aegirine — ranges from $4.50 to $70.

Canasite Care and Maintenance

Safety first: You may see that canasite has 1.12% radioactivity, but that’s a barely detectable level and it comes from its potassium content — nothing to worry about for safety or handling.

Onto gemstone care, canasite will readily decompose from acids, so keep those away. It also has perfect cleavage, so avoid sharp blows to prevent the mineral breaking.

You can use a soft microfiber cloth or toothbrush to wipe down any dust and debris from the canasite's surface.

Can’t Get Enough of Canasite?

Canasite is a less familiar but underrated mineral, giving the more popular charoite some incredible qualities and enabling the creation of significant glass-ceramic products.

If you’re looking to round out a rare mineral collection or simply get your own gorgeous canasite specimen, look no further.

Buy canasite and other lesser-known gemstones today!