BLUE HALITE. ...

Description

BLUE HALITE
Stassfurt Potash Deposit, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Evidently there are enough salt mines on Earth for them to have become the synonym for 'places of hard labor'. Not content to leave things at that, salt has furnished us with 'salary': a term based on Roman soldiers being paid partially in salt, and 'not worth his salt' - a phrase arising from the same source. Besides the cultural aspects of salt, there are some much more arcane ones. While most 'pure' salt is colorless, in a few deposits crystals with hues ranging from light blue to deep blue-violet sometimes are encountered. The odd thing about them is that if they are dissolved and then recrystallized from water - they are no longer blue. Current research seems to indicate that minute amounts of the rare earth Yttrium coupled with weak natural gamma irradiation from nearby Potassium salts are somehow responsible. Whether that is the case with all blue Halite crystals remains to be seen. This old-time classic from the Stassfurt Potash Mines is a suitable subject for further investigations. It is colorless and transparent with deep blue-violet 'phantom' zones visible through all sides of the specimen. It was admitted to the Harvard University Collection back in 1925 and has Harvard Collection #1355 affixed to it. It also has a University of Arizona accession #3561. This mineralogical mystery measures 2½ x 2 1/8 x ¾ inches (6.4 x 5.4 x 1.9 cm). Offered at no reserve.

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