saltssuch

Saltssuch is a fictional mineral species described in speculative fiction and world-building exercises. It is imagined as a halide evaporite with distinctive crystallization and notable solubility, found in arid evaporite basins. The term combines an English word for salt with an in-world linguistic suffix, chosen to evoke its origin and extraction practices within the narrative.

The concept first appears in in-universe mineral catalogs following surveys of salt flats on the archipelago of Solara. The name saltssuch reflects both its salt origin and the historical habit of communities in the setting to seek out and control scarce saline resources.

Physically, saltssuch is described as transparent to pale-blue cubic or tabular crystals, typically 1–5 millimeters in size. It is highly soluble in water and has a relatively low hardness, around 2.5 on the Mohs scale. Specimens often contain micro-inclusions of iron oxides, which can impart a faint pink to pale yellow tint in certain samples.

Geologically, saltssuch forms in layered evaporite deposits alongside halite, arising as brines evaporate in arid environments. It is depicted as being mined through conventional brine extraction and open-pit methods, with processing requiring careful handling due to its solubility and ore blends.

Uses and significance in the fictional economy center on its electrical conductivity and potential applications as an electrolyte, glass additive, or pigment. Saltssuch’s rarity makes it a strategic resource, shaping trade routes and regional development within the story’s world, while scholars in the narrative explore environmental and ethical implications of its extraction.