Glauberite (ex Alfred Stevenson Collection)

Item Description

Glauberite chemically is sodium calcium sulfate, but the species can be dissolved with water, and in turn redeposited in the form of Gypsum. It's not easy to find actual crystals of Glauberite from any locality, and in many cases we typically see hollow casts of other minerals replacing Glauberite, such as the famous Prehnite casts from places like Prospect Park and the New Street Quarries in northern New Jersey. This piece is actually from the Pink Lakes in northwest Victoria, Australia. The area is now inside of the Murray-Sunset National Park, and was the site of a major salt industry from 1916 to 1975. I have only seen one other example of Glauberite from this locality. This piece is a great example of this hard to find material featuring sharp, well-formed, narrow / tabular monoclinic bladed crystals with a chalky white exterior. Please keep in mind that in a humid climate, this material could possibly disintegrate, so please keep this in mind when bidding.