Searles Lake Minerals Sulphohalite, Borax & Thenardite
If you read last week's Mineral Mondays I talked about hanksite found at Searles Lake, Ca. I wanted to go over a few more of the collectable minerals on the lake bed before I head out this weekend to the annual gem show to collect them. This week let's look at a few lesser known minerals, but some valuable and one used in everyday life. I won't go into details in this post, just a quick introduction to let you know what else is found on the lake bed.
Thenardite
Thenardite is a sodium sulfate. The thenardite from Searles lake forms clusters composed of diamond shaped crystals. Beyond collecting it is used in the glass and paper industries.
Sulphohalite
Sulphohalite is a sodium sulfate with chlorine, fluorine, sulfur, oxygen and sodium . It forms dodecahedral and octahedral crystals similar to octahedral fluorite, two pyramids back to back. This is one of the most sought after mineral by collectors at Trona due to it's rarity. Some years, like last year, it's plentiful. Others, like the year before last year it is rare and hard to find. You will often see people on their hands and knees looking specifically for these crystals.
Borax
By Cs california (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Borax is a sodium borate. It is a mineral used in many everyday substances. In the late 1800's it was used as a popular laundry detergent. It's still used as a component in many detergents today. Some of the other uses are in cosmetics, tooth bleaches, textiles, fire retardant, flux and many, many more.
For more information on Searles lake minerals I'd suggest visiting the Searles Valley Minerals website: http://www.svminerals.com/Main%20Pages/OurProducts.aspx?PageView=Shared#
Next Mineral Mondays #13: Kunzite & Spodume
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