Sylvinite

Agricultural Uses

The most abundant potash mineral deposit is sylvite (KCl). Sylvite and halite (NaCl) form a common potash ore, called sylvinite. In nature, fairly pure sylvinite exists, which contains 10 to 20% potassium but no soluble sulphate or other salts.
Sylvite and halite crystals of sylvinite contain significant amounts of gases under high pressure. The potassium (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl) crystals are separated based on the difference in their specific gravity. The specific gravity of halite is 2.13 g/cc and of sylvite 1.9 g/cc. The thermal dissolution of the crystallization process is also used to separate potassium chloride from sodium chloride because potassium chloride is much more soIuble in hot water than in cold water compared to sodium chloride.