China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Mineral Deposits
Published in Dexter Perkins, Kevin R. Henke, Adam C. Simon, Lance D. Yarbrough, Earth Materials, 2019
Dexter Perkins, Kevin R. Henke, Adam C. Simon, Lance D. Yarbrough
Sylvite (KCl), the second most abundant chloride mineral, is also mined from evaporites. Sylvite is the world’s primary source of potassium used in fertilizer for commercial agriculture, lawns, and gardens. Potassium is an essential nutrient in plants (and humans), ranking third in importance (after nitrogen and phosphorus) for plant growth, because it improves yields and the nutritional contents. So, farmers use potassium fertilizer for growing many crops, including fruits and vegetables, corn, sugar, palm oil, cotton, soybeans, rice, and wheat, among others. Plants deficient in potassium often show yellow discoloration and curling of leaf tips, such as can be seen in Figure 13.17, and overall growth, including root development and fruiting, is diminished.
Potash And Other Salts
Published in Earle A. Ripley, E. Robert Redmann, Adèle A. Crowder, Tara C. Ariano, Catherine A. Corrigan, Robert J. Farmer, L. Moira Jackson, Environmental Effects of Mining, 2018
A. Ripley Earle, Robert E. Redmann, Adèle A. Crowder, Tara C. Ariano, Catherine A. Corrigan, Robert J. Farmer, Earle A. Ripley, E. Robert Redmann, Adèle A. Crowder, Tara C. Ariano, Catherine A. Corrigan, Robert J. Farmer, L. Moira Jackson
The term “potash” refers to the oxide and carbonate compounds of potassium that were, at one time, produced from wood ashes. The main commercial potassium minerals are sylvite, carnallite, kainite, and langbeinite, with sylvite accounting for the majority of the ore. Potash production is still often expressed in terms of the potassium oxide (K2O) equivalent, although potassium chloride (KCl) is the actual chemical form of the mineral sylvite. This book uses only weights of KCl, which can be converted to K2O equivalents by multiplying by 0.63.
Application of X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy to study the transformation of carnallite and thenardite to schoenite at 25 °C
Published in Chemical Engineering Communications, 2020
Qingyu Hai, Huaide Cheng, Haizhou Ma, Jun Li, Xiwei Qin
As illustrated in Figure 11, all mineral identification is the result of contour identification and energy spectrum analysis EDS. Sylvite and halite belong to the cubic system, and their solids exhibit a characteristic cube form in accordance with the expected geometry of the KCl and NaCl crystals (Podder et al., 2014). Epsomite/hexahydrite crystals appear in a characteristic elongated prismatic or tabular pseudo-hexagonal shape (Drioli et al., 2004; Abdel Wahed et al., 2015). The EDS spectrum shows three well-defined peaks, Mg2+, S6+, and O2−, which validates its classification as a magnesium-sulfate hydrate (Li et al., 2011). Schoenite crystals, which belong to a monoclinic system, are defined on the basis of their short columnar habit and their elemental pattern with well-defined peaks of K+, Mg2+, S6+, and O2−.
Contrasting geology and mineralogy of evaporative encrustations in salt-tolerant ecosystems, Maniototo basin, Central Otago, New Zealand
Published in New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, 2022
Dave Craw, Cathy Rufaut, Gemma Kerr, Dhana Pillai
The most prominent mineral is halite (NaCl), which forms separate and relatively large euhedral cubes, some of which are hollow (Figure 4C). Halite also occurs as smaller anhedral grains intergrown with other minerals (Figure 4C–E). Sylvite (KCl) is commonly closely associated with halite, as anhedral grains and grain clusters. At least some of the textures of halite, especially the hollow nature of the crystals, may have been affected by atmospheric humidity during the sample drying process, and some recrystallisation of sylvite to anhedral grains may have occurred. Scattered grains of Ca-sulphate occur locally with the halite and sylvite, and these may be anhydrite or gypsum (Table 1).