Halite (sodium chloride, NaCl) is probably the best known of the halide mineral group, of which there are 85 members. Many of the group members are complex compounds, but some of them, however, are simple compounds, including halite. Halides are essentially compounds of the halogen elements: F, Cl, Br and I, the halogen being the sole important anion. Halite is the principal member of the halite group. Other members include sylvite (KG) and chlorargyrite (AgCl). Chlorine is found as an element in some minerals of igneous, metamorphic or of supergene origin. It is, however, a more prolific and important element when it occurs in the sedimentary environment as the mineral halite. In the Earth's crust huge tonnages of it occur as solid stratiform deposits many metres in thickness, resulting from the evaporation of water in marine and lacustrine basins, where they occur as deposits ranging in age from the Precambrian to the present day. Halite in common parlance is known simply as salt. The name has become part of the folklore of the English language. Due to its preservative properties salt has become a symbol of fidelity and there are connotations with esteem. We refer to someone in the latter category as 'the salt of the earth'. The English translation of biblical texts, especially those of the Old Testament, refer to the word salt on many occasions, such as wisdom, perpetuity, corruption, barrenness and hospitality.
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