HALITE (ROCK SALT) - Winsford Salt Mine, Cheshire

HALITE (ROCK SALT)

220 million years old

Winsford Salt Mine, Winsford, Cheshire

Winsford Salt Mine (formerly known as Meadow Bank Mine) is Britain's largest salt mine, providing salt primarily for de-icing roads. It mines rock salt to a depth of almost 200 metres under the Cheshire countryside with over 200 kilometres of workings. The salt consists of about 93 per cent sodium chloride. 

The salt at Winsford was formed during the Triassic period about 220 million years ago when England had a very hot and hostile climate and was covered by inland seas. The seas slowly evaporated leaving behind thick crystalline salt deposits.  At this time what was to become England was locked in the super-continent Pangaea. The salt is brown or pink in colour due to the iron-rich sand blown in from the adjacent deserts.

This is a large and very good example from an old collection.

Please note: Salt is naturally hygroscopic, in other words it can absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Please keep this specimen dry to prolong its life. Under no circumstances should it be washed!

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