Microbes in salt springs?

[Crater Eddie]

On one of our recent hikes, we visited an old salt spring that used to be a source of salt way back in the day. It is just a big hole in the ground that someone built a frame around for easy access. Way back then, they used to boil down the water to separate out the salt. Actually, it was a more complicated process than that, as there are many other minerals in the water besides salt. That's one reason it fell out of use, it took more processing than other sources, so became economically un-profitable. The source is deep underground, the water just flows out freely into a nearby river. The water is crystal clear and smells horrible of course. At the outlet of the spring there were many long white things trailing in the current, looking somewhat like ghostly algae. I assume they were actually mineral deposits. I didn't have a sample bottle with me so couldn't bring any water back for examination.
Should there be mineral loving organisms living in this water?
Wife and I plan to go back to this spring sometime soon to gather some samples, out of curiosity. I just thought I would see if anyone here had any thoughts.
CE

[Crater Eddie]

Here are a few photos that we took:

[gekko]

Very interesting, and nice pictures. I look forward to what you find in your water sample.

[microbe fanatic]

I would think so. it could be an extremophile, such as the bacteria in the hot springs at Yellowstone park. Especially if there
are other minerals, so that could mean it is a chemoautroph. Also, some algae become heterotrophic if they are not exposed
to light for extended life cycles. That could mean it is "albino Algae" in a way!