Cavansite with Stilbite
specimen number:
2072354
location:
Wagholi, Maharashtra, India
description: The Wagholi quarry complex, located near Pune in the Maharashtra state of India, is a world-renowned mineral locality situated within the massive basaltic flows of the Deccan Traps. Geologically, these quarries expose vesicular basalt where secondary minerals precipitated from hydrothermal fluids into gas cavities known as vugs or amygdales during the late Cretaceous to early Paleocene. The site is most famous for cavansite, a rare calcium vanadium silicate mineral, which occurs as brilliant, electric-blue radiating rosettes often perched on a contrasting matrix of white stilbite. Historically, mining and quarrying at Wagholi were established to produce crushed stone and aggregate for local construction and infrastructure projects, with the mineralogical significance of the site only becoming widely recognized by the international community in the late 1980s and early 1990s. While industrial aggregate production was the primary economic driver for several decades, the recovery of mineral specimens became a lucrative secondary activity. As of 2026, many of the original quarries have ceased operations or been encroached upon by urban development, but Wagholi remains the definitive type locality for the finest cavansite specimens ever discovered.
Blue crystal groupings of cavansite to 0.5 cm in size across the top of matrix with white lustrous crystals of stilbite. In good condition.
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