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Halite
Current inventory:  0 gems
 

  
Halite is named from the Greek words halos meaning "salt" and lithos meaning "rock".

Discovery: Prehistoric;   IMA status: Valid (pre-IMA; Grandfathered).

Chemistry

Chemical Formula:

NaCl

Sodium Chloride

Molecular Weight:

58.44 gm

Composition: 

Classification

Mineral Classification:

Halides

Strunz 8th Ed. ID:

3/A.02-30

Nickel-Strunz 10th Ed. ID:

3.AA.20

3 : HALIDES
A : Simple halides, without H₂O
A : M:X = 1:1, 2:3, 3:5, etc.

Related to:

Halite Group

Varieties:

Huantajayite

Synonyms:

Common Salt, β-Halite, Halites, Martinsite (of Karsten), Muriate of Soda, Natrikalite, Rock Salt, Salt, Sodium Chloride, Saltspar

Crystal Data

Crystallography:

Isometric - Hexoctahedral

Crystal Habit:

Crystals normally cubic, to 1 m, rarely octahedral, elongated along [100] or [111]. Crystal faces often cavernous and stepped (hopper crystals). Massive. Coarsely granular to compact; columnar, stalactitic or capillary forms rare.

Twinning:

None

Physical Properties

Cleavage:

[100] Perfect, [010] Perfect, [001] Perfect

Fracture:

Conchoidal

Tenacity:

Brittle

Moh's Hardness:

2.0 - 2.5

Density:

2.168 (g/cm³)

Luminescence:

Rarely fluorescent; SW UV = red, green (organic inclusions), orange, LW UV = red, green orange.

Radioactivity:

Not Radioactive

Other:

Soluble in H₂O. Saline taste. Caution: Licking or ingesting raw halite in the "wild" could cause health problems due to unidentified admixed substances (such as alkaline compounds).

Optical Properties

Color:

Colorless or White when pure, Gray, Yellow, Orange, light to dark Blue, Purple, Pink to Red; Colorless to faintly tinted in thin section.

Transparency:

Transparent to Translucent

Luster:

Vitreous

Refractive Index:

1.5443  Isotropic

Birefringence:

0.000 (Isotropic)

Dispersion:

Moderately Strong

Pleochroism:

Weak; The pleochroism is sometimes developed in colored material after being subjected to pressure.

Anisotrophism:

Weakly anisotropic due to stress.

Occurances

Geological Setting:

Typically in sedimentary rocks of evaporite association, may form immense beds; also as volcanic sublimates, efflorescences, cave deposits. Crystals are common in multiphase fluid inclusions; may be included in other minerals as a product of intermediate-grade metamorphism.

Common Associations:

Anhydrite, Carnallite, Clay, Dolomite, Gypsum, Kainite, Kieserite, Polyhalite, Sylvite

Common Impurities:

Br, Fe, I, O

Type Locality:

Unknown (prehistoric)

Year Discovered:

Prehistoric

View mineral photos:

Halite Mineral Photos and Locations

More Information

Mindat.org
Webmineral.com

Halite, also known as rock salt, is a common mineral but rarely available as a faceted gem. It is soluble in water and so difficult to facet. Halite is found in many localities worldwide including current evaporative deposits such as near Salt Lake City, Utah and Searles Lake, California, US. In these locations it crystallizes out of evaporating brine lakes. It is also found in ancient bedrock all over the world where large extinct salt lakes and seas evaporated millions of years ago leaving thick deposits of salt. The cities of Cleveland and Detroit sit above huge Halite deposits. These undergrond deposits are often mined for use as road salt.

Halite often forms as perfect cubes but also forms some unusual and interesting habits. One of the most interesting is called a "hopper" or "skeletal" crystal where only the edges of the crystal grow outward from the center leaving hollow, stairstep faces recessed toward the center of the crystal. Halite crystals are sometimes colored an attractive pastel pink by inclusions of bacterial debris that are trapped during crystallization in an evaporative lake. Halite crystals from Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, Germany have been found with amazing azure-blue color banding that is caused by the presence of Chloride gas.

Halite occurs worldwide. Well-studied deposits include: around Hallstadt, Salzburg, and Hall, near Innsbruck, Tirol, Austria. From Bex, Vaud, Switzerland. In Germany, from Stassfurt-Leopoldshall, 34 km south of Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt. Deposits with large crystals at Wieliczka (Galicia) and Bochnia, Poland. At Girgenti and Racalmuto, Sicily, Italy. In the Salt Range, Punjab, India. In the USA, in the Michigan Basin, underlying Ohio, Michigan, and New York; as numerous salt domes along the Gulf Coast; and in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico; large crystals at the Potash Corporation of America mine, Carlsbad potash district, Eddy County, New Mexico.
 

  
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