Colorless to white, pale gray, pale blue; may be yellowish red
to red due to hematite inclusions
Crystal habit
As cubes and octahedra; columnar, in crusts, coarse granular, massive
Cleavage
Perfect on [100], [010], [001]
Fracture
Uneven
Tenacity
Brittle to ductile
Mohs scale hardness
2
Luster
Vitreous
Streak
White
Diaphaneity
Transparent to translucent
Specific gravity
1.993
Optical properties
Isotropic
Refractive index
1.4903
Pleochroism
Visible in colored crystals
Ultraviolet fluorescence
None
Solubility
Soluble in water
Other characteristics
Salty to bitter taste
References
[2][3][4]
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.[5] 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.[6] 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 found only in very dry saline areas. Its principal use is as a potassium fertilizer.
SylviteSylvite from Germany
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 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 after historical KCl designations sal degistivum Sylvii and sal febrifugum Sylvii,[7] which are named after the Dutch physician and chemist François Sylvius de le Boe (1614–1672).[2]
Sylvite, along with quartz, fluorite and halite, is used for spectroscopic prisms and lenses.[8]
Sylvite, or sylvine, is potassium chloride (KCl) in natural mineral form. It forms crystals in the isometric system very similar to normal rock salt,...
be known as E number additive E508. It occurs naturally as the mineral sylvite, which is named after salt's historical designations sal degistivum Sylvii...
most common marine evaporites are calcite, gypsum and anhydrite, halite, sylvite, carnallite, langbeinite, polyhalite, and kainite. Kieserite (MgSO4) may...
occurs with a sequence of potassium and magnesium evaporite minerals: sylvite, kainite, picromerite, polyhalite, and kieserite. Carnallite is an uncommon...
contains 5% potassium, which is well above the average in the Earth's crust. Sylvite (KCl), carnallite (KCl·MgCl2·6H2O), kainite (MgSO4·KCl·3H2O) and langbeinite...
Sylvinite is a sedimentary rock made of a mechanical mixture of the minerals sylvite (KCl, or potassium chloride) and halite (NaCl, or sodium chloride). Sylvinite...
83 × 20 = 17% elemental potassium. As another example, the fertilizer sylvite is a naturally occurring mineral consisting mostly of potassium chloride...
silt range Sylvinite – Sedimentary rock made of a mechanical mixture of sylvite and halite Tillite – Till which has been indurated or lithified by burial...
contain anhydrite, gypsum, and native sulfur, in addition to halite and sylvite. They are common along the Gulf coasts of Texas and Louisiana and are often...
and in guano deposits. It occurs associated with thenardite, jarosite, sylvite and hematite in fumaroles; with blödite, syngenite, mirabilite, picromerite...
than normal table salt (NaCl). The pure minerals are called halite and sylvite; a physical mixture of the two is referred to as sylvinite. Because minerals...
that is most commonly mined for chlorine, but the minerals carnallite and sylvite are also mined for chlorine. Forty million metric tons of chlorine are...
chloride occurs naturally as impurities in carnallite (up to 0.002%), sylvite and kainite. Less than 20 tonnes of CsCl is produced annually worldwide...
temperature of the original fluid. If minute crystals, such as halite, sylvite, hematite or sulfides, are present in the inclusion, they provide direct...
found in evaporite sequences associated with gypsum, anhydrite, halite, sylvite, carnallite, kainite and hilgardite. It was first described in 1789 for...
marine evaporite deposits in association with carnallite, halite, and sylvite. It was first described in 1891 for an occurrence in Wilhelmshall, Halberstadt...
examples of halides include halite (NaCl, table salt), sylvite (KCl), and fluorite (CaF2). Halite and sylvite commonly form as evaporites, and can be dominant...
decomposition of sodium azide. Potassium occurs in many minerals, such as sylvite (potassium chloride). Previously, potassium was generally made from the...
Besides, reserves of germanium, indium, zirconium, platinum, rock salt, sylvite, nickel, phosphate, mirabilite, arsenic and blue asbestos are also high...
(halite) crystal structure is space group Fm3m; this structure is shared by sylvite (KCl), periclase (MgO), bunsenite (NiO), galena (PbS), alabandite (MnS)...
widely used to extract deposits of water-soluble salts such as potash (sylvite and carnallite), rock salt (halite), sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate...
and rocks composed of evaporite minerals, such as halite (rock salt), sylvite, baryte and gypsum. This fourth miscellaneous category includes volcanic...
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