Cancrinite

  Cancrinite is a complex carbonate and silicate of sodium, calcium and aluminium with the formula Na₆Ca₂[(CO₃,Al₆Si₆O₂₄].2H₂O. It is classed as a member of the feldspathoid group of minerals; the alkali feldspars that are poor in silica. Yellow, orange, pink, white or even blue, it has a vitreous or pearly lustre; a hardness of 5-6 and an uneven conchoidal fracture. It is unusual among the silicate minerals in that it will effervesce with hydrochloric acid due to the associated carbonate ions.

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Found originally in 1839 in the Ural Mountains, it is named after Georg von Cancrin, a Russian minister of finance.