Evaporite

Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk chalk. Gypsum also crystallizes as translucent crystals of selenite. It forms as an evaporite mineral and as a hydration product of anhydrite. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness defines gypsum as hardness value 2 based on scratch hardness comparison.

Halite ( ), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride (NaCl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on inclusion of other materials, impurities, and structural or isotopic abnormalities in the crystals. It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the sulfates, halides, and borates. The name halite is derived from the Ancient Greek word for "salt", ().

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses.

carbonate mineral – CaMg(CO₃)₂

Borax (also referred to as sodium borate, tincal () and tincar ()) is a salt (ionic compound) normally encountered as a hydrated borate of sodium, with the chemical formula . Borax mineral is a crystalline borate mineral that occurs in only a few places worldwide in quantities that enable it to be mined economically.

Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon.

Aragonite is a carbonate mineral and one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate (), the others being calcite and vaterite. It is formed by biological and physical processes, including precipitation from marine and freshwater environments.

Baryte or barite ( ), also called barytes ( ), is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (BaSO4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The baryte group consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), anglesite (lead sulfate), and anhydrite (calcium sulfate). Baryte and celestine form a solid solution .

Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula (magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Magnesite occurs naturally in both cryptocrystalline and crystalline forms depending on the conditions of formation.

Anhydrite, or anhydrous calcium sulfate, is a mineral with the chemical formula CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium (baryte) and strontium (celestine) sulfates, as might be expected from the chemical formulas. Distinctly developed crystals are somewhat rare, the mineral usually presenting the form of cleavage masses. The Mohs hardness is 3.5, and the specific gravity is 2.9. The color is white, sometimes greyish, bluish, or purple. On the best deve

strontium sulfate mineral

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. 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. Sylvite has a salty taste with a distinct bitterness.

thumb|A cobble (geology)|cobble encrusted with [[halite precipitated from the Dead Sea, Israel (with Israeli ₪1 coin [diameter 18mm] for scale)]]

Carnallite (also carnalite) is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated potassium magnesium chloride with formula KCl.MgCl2·6(H2O). It is variably colored yellow to white, reddish, and sometimes colorless or blue. It is usually massive to fibrous with rare pseudohexagonal orthorhombic crystals. The mineral is deliquescent (absorbs moisture from the surrounding air to the point of forming an aqueous solution) and specimens must be stored in an airtight container.

Kainite ( or ) (KMg(SO4)Cl·3H2O) is an evaporite mineral in the class of "Sulfates (selenates, etc.) with additional anions, with H2O" according to the Nickel–Strunz classification. It is a hydrated potassium-magnesium sulfate-chloride, naturally occurring in irregular granular masses or as crystalline coatings in cavities or fissures. This mineral is dull and soft, and is colored white, yellowish, grey, reddish, or blue to violet. Its name is derived from Greek [kainos] ("(hitherto) unknown"), as it was the first mineral discovered that contained both sulfate and chloride as anions. Kainite f

Epsomite, Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula .

Mirabilite, also known as Glauber's salt, is a hydrous sodium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula Na2SO4·10H2O. It is a vitreous, colorless to white monoclinic mineral that forms as an evaporite from sodium sulfate-bearing brines. It is found around saline springs and along saline playa lakes. Associated minerals include gypsum, halite, thenardite, trona, glauberite, and epsomite.

structural dome formed of salt or halite

Trona (trisodium hydrogendicarbonate dihydrate, also sodium sesquicarbonate dihydrate, Na2CO3·NaHCO3·2H2O) is a non-marine evaporite mineral. It is mined as the primary source of sodium carbonate in the United States, where it has replaced the Solvay process used in most of the rest of the world for sodium carbonate production. Turkey is also a major producer.

Thénardite is an anhydrous sodium sulfate mineral, Na2SO4 which occurs in arid evaporite environments, specifically lakes and playas. It also occurs in dry caves and old mine workings as an efflorescence and as a crusty sublimate deposit around fumaroles. It occurs in volcanic caves on Mount Etna, Italy. It was first described in 1825 for an occurrence in the Espartinas Saltworks in Ciempozuelos, Spain, by the Spanish chemist José Luis Casaseca (1800 - 1869). Casaseca named the mineral after his master, the French chemist Louis Jacques Thénard (1777–1857).

Kieserite, or magnesium sulfate monohydrate, is a hydrous magnesium sulfate mineral with formula (MgSO4·H2O).

Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: . Polyhalite crystallizes in the triclinic system, although crystals are very rare. The normal habit is massive to fibrous. It is typically colorless, white to gray, although it may be brick red due to iron oxide inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 and a specific gravity of 2.8. It is used as a valuable fertilizer.

Glauberite is a monoclinic sodium calcium sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Ca(SO4)2.

thumb|Sylvinite from Perm Krai, Russia thumb|Close-up view of sylvinite from Perm, Russia 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 is the most important source for the production of potash in North America, Russia and the UK. Most Canadian operations mine sylvinite with proportions of approximately 31% KCl and 66% NaCl with the balance being insoluble clays, anhydrite and in some locations carnallite. Other deposits of sylvinite are located in Belarus, Brazil, France, Germa

Bischofite is a hydrous magnesium chloride mineral with formula MgCl2·6H2O. It belongs to halides and is a sea salt concentrate. It contains many macro- and micro-elements vital for human health, in much higher concentrations than can be found in sea or ocean salt. The main bischofite compound is magnesium chloride (up to 350 g/L), moreover, it contains about 70 other elements as impurities, including potassium, sodium, bromine, boron, calcium, silicon, molybdenum, silver, zinc, iron and copper.

Blödite or bloedite is a hydrated sodium magnesium sulfate mineral with the formula Na2Mg(SO4)2·4H2O. The mineral is clear to yellow in color often darkened by inclusions and forms monoclinic crystals.

study of salt-controlled structures (like salt domes), mechanisms, and tectonic deformation involving salt or other evaporates

Gaylussite is a carbonate mineral, a hydrated sodium calcium carbonate, formula Na2Ca(CO3)2·5H2O. It occurs as translucent, vitreous white to grey to yellow monoclinic prismatic crystals. It is an unstable mineral which dehydrates in dry air and decomposes in water.

Langbeinite is a potassium magnesium sulfate mineral with the chemical formula K2Mg2(SO4)3. Langbeinite crystallizes in the isometric-tetartoidal (cubic) system as transparent colorless or white with pale tints of yellow to green and violet crystalline masses. It has a vitreous luster. The Mohs hardness is 3.5 to 4 and the specific gravity is 2.83. The crystals are piezoelectric.

Picromerite (synonyms: schoenite, schönite) is a mineral from the class of hydrous sulfates lacking additional anions, and containing medium to large cations according to the Nickel–Strunz classification.

Hanksite is a sulfate mineral, distinguished as one of only a handful that contain both carbonate and sulfate ions (a sulfate carbonate). It has the chemical formula Na22K(SO4)9(CO3)2Cl.

Hilgardite is a borate mineral with the chemical formula Ca2B5O9Cl·H2O. It is transparent and has vitreous luster. It is colorless to light pink with a white streak. It is rated 5 on the Mohs Scale. It crystallizes in the triclinic crystal system. Crystals occur as distorted tabular triangles and are hemimorphic, polytypes exist.

waste product of solar salt operations rich in magnesium sulfate

Tuzlaite is a borate mineral, associated with halides, named after the Tuzla salt mines in Bosnia and Hercegovina. A multitude of rare evaporate minerals have been discovered there, it being the only major evaporate deposit in the Balkans. This mineral has been approved as tuzlaite by the International Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names.