2025 Year in Review — Read the full article
Halite - image 1
Halite - image 2
specimen video
Updated 4d ago
23
Halite
When people think about salt, they often have visions of powdered salt for putting on food, but the same salt, sodium chloride, or Halite as mineralogists know it, can form the most amazing crystals. Crystals can include cubes, or cubes with hoppered internal faces, but how big can these crystals get? Well, here is the answer. This large cabinet display specimen consists of two exceptionally large intergrown cubes. The largest is a colossal 11.8 cm on edge and the 'smaller' cube 8.4 cm on edge. It is from the world famous Wieliczka mine in Poland that from the 13th century developed underground to extract the valuable salt which had previously be tapped from brines since Neolithic times. Mining operations continued, almost uninterrupted, through until 1996 when economic conditions forced its closure. This specimen is truly exceptional, not just for its size, but for being free from damage. The crystals are sharply formed, colourless, and internally transparent - the effect of very slight surface dissolution has produced a slightly frosted appearance on the crystal surfaces and a very slight rounding of the crystal edges, but this is typical of all Halite specimens. Pale orange fluorescence is exhibited under SW UV light. This is a worldclass Halite specimen and certainly worth its salt!
$5,500.00
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
PayPal
PayPal Pay In 4
Discover
Wire transfers available, to set up

Product details
Species
SizeLarge Cabinet
Dimensions19.0 x 13.0 x 10.5 cm
SKUCC42496
Listed on12/02/2024
Known provenance
Unknown dateNot disclosed
Species and Locality Wiki Pages
Collectors of Halite from Wieliczka Mine
From
To
Loading sales data...
All Sales
Loading specimens...