Searlesite is a sodium borosilicate mineral, with the chemical formula NaBSi2O5(OH)2. It was discovered in 1914 at Searles Lake, California, and was named to honor John W. Searles, California pioneer, who drilled the well that yielded the first known Searlesite. Searlesite is an important ore mineral of borax. It occurs interbedded with oil shales or marls (Green River Formation, USA) and in boron-bearing evaporite deposits (California, USA); rarely in vugs in phonolite (Point of Rocks, New Mexico).
Searlesite is a sodium borosilicate mineral, with the chemical formula NaBSi2O5(OH)2. It was discovered in 1914 at Searles Lake, California, and was named to honor John W. Searles, California pioneer, who drilled the well that yielded the first known Searlesite. Searlesite is an important ore mineral of borax. It occurs interbedded with oil shales or marls (Green River Formation, USA) and in boron-bearing evaporite deposits (California, USA); rarely in vugs in phonolite (Point of Rocks, New Mexico).