Sylvite, or sylvine, is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt, halite (NaCl). The two are, in fact, isomorphous. Sylvite is colorless to white with shades of yellow and red due to inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 1.99. It has a refractive index of 1.4903. Sylvite has a salty taste with a distinct bitterness.
Sylvite is one of the last evaporite minerals to precipitate out of solution. As such, it is only found in very dry saline areas. Its principal use is as a potassium fertilizer.
Sylvite is found in many evaporite deposits worldwide. Massive bedded deposits occur in New Mexico and western Texas, and in Utah in the US, but the largest world source is in Saskatchewan, Canada. The vast deposits in Saskatchewan, Canada were formed by the evaporation of a Devonian seaway. Sylvite is the official mineral of Saskatchewan.
Sylvite was first described in 1832 at Mount Vesuvius near Napoli in Italy and named for the Dutch chemist, François Sylvius de le Boe (1614–1672).
Sylvite, along with quartz, fluorite and halite, is used for spectroscopic prisms and lenses.
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Halide minerals are those minerals with a dominant halide anion (, , and ). Complex halide minerals may also have polyatomic anions. Examples include the following: Atacamite Avogadrite (K,Cs)BF Bararite (β) Bischofite Brüggenite Calomel Carnallite Carnallite Cerargyrite/Horn silver AgCl Chlorargyrite AgCl, bromargyrite AgBr, and iodargyrite AgI Cryolite Cryptohalite (a) Dietzeite Eglestonite Embolite AgCl+AgBr Eriochalcite Fluorite Halite NaCl Lautarite Marshite CuI Miersite AgI Nantokite CuCl Sal Ammoniac Sylvite KCl Terlinguaite Tolbachite Villiaumite NaF Yttrocerite (Ca,Y,Ce)F2 Yttrofluorite (Ca,Y)F2 Zavaritskite (BiO)F Many of these minerals are water-soluble and are often found in arid areas in crusts and other deposits as are various borates, nitrates, iodates, bromates and the like.
Sylvite, or sylvine, is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt, halite (NaCl). The two are, in fact, isomorphous. Sylvite is colorless to white with shades of yellow and red due to inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 2.5 and a specific gravity of 1.99. It has a refractive index of 1.4903. Sylvite has a salty taste with a distinct bitterness. Sylvite is one of the last evaporite minerals to precipitate out of solution.
In crystallography, the cubic (or isometric) crystal system is a crystal system where the unit cell is in the shape of a cube. This is one of the most common and simplest shapes found in crystals and minerals. There are three main varieties of these crystals: Primitive cubic (abbreviated cP and alternatively called simple cubic) Body-centered cubic (abbreviated cI or bcc) Face-centered cubic (abbreviated cF or fcc) Note: the term fcc is often used in synonym for the cubic close-packed or ccp structure occurring in metals.