Rocksday

Sylvite

Potassium chloride — looks like rock salt but tastes bitter. The main source of potash fertilizer.

Sylvite specimen
Photo: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez (Lmbuga Commons)(Lmbuga Galipedia) Publicada por/Publish by: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify sylvite

  • Cubes like halite, often reddish.
  • Bitter, not just salty, taste.
  • Dissolves in water.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Saskatchewan, Canada
  • Berezniki, Russia
  • Carlsbad, New Mexico
  • Stassfurt, Germany

Uses

Potash fertilizer.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling. Water-soluble.

Did you know?

Saskatchewan holds some of the largest potash deposits in the world.

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