Searlesite with Loughlinite

specimen number:
2133168

location:
Westvaco Mine, Sweetwater Co., Wyoming, USA

description:
Colorless platy searlesite on matrix with loughlinite. Nice for these two species.

The Westvaco Mine, located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, is a large open pit trona mining operation within the Green River Basin, one of the most important sources of natural soda ash in the world. Mining began in the mid 20th century and has continued for decades, extracting trona from thick bedded evaporite deposits formed in an ancient lake environment. The operation has supplied vast quantities of soda ash used in glass manufacturing, chemicals, and other industrial applications. The scale of the deposit and the efficiency of modern mining methods have made the Westvaco Mine a key contributor to global soda ash production.

Searlesite and loughlinite are rare sodium borosilicate minerals that occur within the trona bearing evaporite deposits of the Green River Basin. These minerals typically form as fibrous or radiating aggregates within fine grained host rock, often in association with trona, nahcolite, and other evaporite minerals. Searlesite generally appears as white to colorless masses, while loughlinite is similar in appearance but differs in crystal structure and composition. Both minerals formed under highly alkaline conditions in the ancient lake system, where boron rich waters contributed to their development.

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