Trona

specimen number:
2351070

location:
Searles Lake, Trona, San Bernardino Co., California, USA

description:
Most all sides of this matrix are covered by colorless prismatic crystalline trona. in good condition, good example for the species.

Searles Lake, located near Trona in San Bernardino County, California, is a famous dry playa lake formed in an endorheic basin that accumulated mineral-rich waters throughout glacial periods in the Pleistocene epoch. As these ancient lakes evaporated over thousands of years, extensive beds of evaporite deposits formed beneath the playa surface, rich in sodium, potassium, borate, and carbonate minerals. Commercial extraction began in the late nineteenth century, initially focused on borax and salt, before expanding into large-scale industrial mining of potassium chloride, soda ash, and sulfate salts from the subsurface brines. Trona, a hydrated sodium carbonate bicarbonate mineral, is one of the primary commercial minerals mined at the site and forms distinct amber to colorless prismatic crystals that are widely sought after by mineral collectors. Today, the location remains an active industrial mining district as well as a celebrated locality for mineral enthusiasts, famous for annual gem and mineral shows where collectors gather to collect well-crystallized specimens harvested directly from the lakebed brines.

Questions about this specimen?
Send an email or call us: 314-341-1811.