The underground salt was deposited by the ocean that covered the Lake Huron basin about 400 million years ago. Communities around Milwaukee, Madison, Appleton, Wausau and Superiorare now using brineor other options to clear roads. Unsubscribe anytime. However, miners at the Sifto Salt Mine have perfected the process. Fresh air from the su. The Morton Salt Company Mine is near Oak Hill, Michigan. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. : Canada: Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich, Ontario, which, at 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide and 2 miles (3.2 km) long, is one of . Way more. Madison, withWisconsin Saltwise, promotes a method of "shovel, scatter and switch. The salt mine was discovered in 1866 by Sam Platt during a search for oil. It was booming from the early 1920s up until 1983, when it was forced to close due to the falling salt prices. the Devonian period (419-359 million years ago), Size, in feet, of the opening to the shaft at the time, "We don't have any rats in our Detroit mine is because the rats would have nothing to eat except the leavings of our lunch pails," one miner said somewhat famously, Amount, in tons, of salt yielded from a single dynamite blast, originally used "mainly for homemade ice cream and cattle licks,", and will increase to 2.5 million tons if a proposed expansion is approved. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Ancient China was among the earliest civilizations in the world with cultivation and trade in mined salt. See. In three minutes, the skip drops nearly 1,700 feet below Cleveland. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Required fields are marked *. She said individuals can also consider switching to alternatives like sand or birdseed for traction. A large square cavern alternating with pillars of salt is left behind. China, the United States, and India rank as the top three producers of salt, and are home to some of the worlds largest salt mines. I'll be sharing thoughts, photos and videos along the way - as I search for answers to questions that bother me so. In the beginning, the leather and food industries were the primary customers. In operation since 1959, the mine is located approximately 1,800 feet under Lake Huron in the Canadian province of Ontario. The The findings come as the state has been making significant strides to reduce salt use on roads to curb pollution. Welcome to the Detroit Salt Company, a subsidiary of The Kissner Group. used on roads in winter. The room-and-pillar system is used to take out Leaders expect it to keep growing. The mineshaft opening is located at 12841 Sanders Street in Detroit, Michigan. Im glad that this piece of history did not shut down and close their doors forever. In operation since 1959, the mine is located approximately 1,800 feet under Lake Huron in the Canadian province of Ontario. Next, they drill holes for explosives, which allows them to blast out some 900 tons of salt in less than three seconds. (1964). This gigantic mine, 1,160 feet beneath the surface, spreads out over more than 1,400 acres with 50 miles of roads. Once down there, they extract the salt in the room and pillar method, where only 50% of the salt is removed, with the other half left behind as enormous pillars used for structural support to keep the mine from collapsing. Curious City 10 years ago 2,728 1 1 1,474 965 Follow Curious City and others on SoundCloud. tons of salt. Once you enter the mine, you go through a series of airlocks that regulate the air pressure. In the last several years, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been working to reduce salt use on the state highway system to curb pollution. How far under Lake Erie is the salt mine? Pillar size is adjusted so that the extraction or recovery The salt created by the Detroit salt mine. The mine itself is a relatively clean and spacious place to work, as far as mines go. Men work in the salt mine underneath Detroit in this undated photo. For educational information about salt and mining, check out our History section! economical mining, to 75 F, permit working conditions in a salt mine to be excellent. The five mines of the area are tapping the formation at the shallowest possible points. Donkeys lowered into the mine to work never saw sunlight again, and didn't live very long. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions 2023 worldatlas.com. The 1,060-foot shaft was finally completed in 1910. All Rights Reserved. in Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario. will attain a maximum of 70%. 24 delicious places to pay homage to the most valuable rock in history. Number of workers who died digging the shaft. Goderich Salt MineCompass Minerals Goderich salt mine, located 1,800 feet under Lake Huron, is the largest underground salt mine in the world. In 1913 In the (halite). The economy of salt mining dried up like a 400 million-year-old ocean, prompting the company at the time, International Salt, to say,. The 5 most ridiculous things about Michigan's state flag, 12 wild and weird facts about the largest fish you can catch in the Great Lakes, The historic futility of the Detroit Lions: a very sad timeline, 8 fascinating facts about Iron Mountain, Tom Izzo's hometown, Torch Lake is Michigan's own slice of the Caribbean, A guide to the 9 drive-in movie theaters still standing in Michigan, This Northern Michigan drive-in movie theater is a nostalgia trip, 6 places to sip a Michigan beer along the White Pine Trail, These three Hollywood movies filmed at the same Niles train station. This one is a small storage shed of salt for the Meridian The mine is so large that it can accommodate over 400 people and once had a bus system that transported workers to their various underground workstations. Geological studies estimate that 55 counties of the Lower Peninsula cover 30,000 trillion tons of salt. Curious City: Morton Salt production in Chicago. Today, the salt from this mine is used exclusively as road salt. According to the Detroit Salt Company, 400 million years ago, ocean water flooded into a large basin, an area known as the Michigan Basin. Unlike coal mining, salt mining is less dangerous since extracting rock salt requires less combustion. : Bosnia and Herzegovina: Tuzla: Bulgaria: Provadiya; and Solnitsata, an ancient town which Bulgarian archaeologists regard as the oldest in Europe and the site of a salt-production facility approximately six millennia ago. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). How big is the salt mine under Lake Michigan? Is there salt mined underneath Chicago and Lake Michigan? The Detroit mine now supplies Michigan and several other states, The study found urban areas like Milwaukee are contributing the most salt with the highest readings stemming from a stormwater outflow at General Mitchell International Airport, which is just a few miles from the lake. "It's this nice liquid layer that soaks into the clear driveway or sidewalk or roadway, and then it prevents that buildup of ice and snow on the road," Hogfeldt said. While the lake's salinity is low, the amount of chloride an element signaling the presence of salt is close to 15 milligrams per liter. The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company began digging in 1906, and went bankrupt trying to complete the task. 1 of 2. Age of the salt deposit, in years. The Sifto Salt Mine produces over 7 million tons of rock salt annually, which is enough to meet the demand in the Great Lakes region. The salt is now used exclusively as road de-icer, thus proving the state of Michigan's preference that our cars be damaged by potholes instead of sliding into guardrails and ditches. Years that have passed since the salt was discovered. The rock salt produced from the mine is mainly processed by mechanical evaporation into fine-coarse grain salt. uses include the tons mixed with road bases to make for greater density and lower the Workmen "undercut" the walls of salt with a Unlike a coal mine, the operation Search for owners by first name, last name, company, location, etc. Manufacturing Company started sinking a shaft for underground mining of rock salt. Length, in feet, of the original mineshaft. This video addresses this myth. We will never spam or sell your information because we take your privacy seriously. of Energy). The gigantic salt mine is located 1,200 feet beneath Detroit's surface, spreads out more than 1,500 acres and has over 100 miles of underground roads. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses. The size of the room depends on the thickness of the salt deposit, although most rooms are 60 feet by 60 feet. Highway Initial production took place in 1892 and overall output was considered to be medium size. The salt is also packaged at the Compass Mineral plant, located about 4 kilometers away, and distributed throughout North America. Image source: Ricky Rhodes Much of the salt is moved from underground to above after it is broken up. miners here have mined out an area 22 feet high for about 300 acres. This mine stretches from Dearborn all the way to Allen Park. Hughes said brine doesn't work for every winter storm, but it can cut the amount of costs and labor necessary to clear highways without compromising safety. Source: Photograph by Randy Schaetzl, Professor of Geography - Michigan The and the amount used for highways is approaching the volumes for chemical purposes. Morton Salt Mine runs about 3 miles (4.8 km) under Lake Erie. A young boy tosses a chunk of snow into Lake Michigan Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019 in Milwaukee. the movement of salt in Canada from eastern Saskatchewan Province to western Quebec The amount of salt used fluctuates depending on the winter. for more information or permissions. This variation in depth is in part attributed to a gradual Groups and transportation officials have been working to educate communities on the harmful effects of road salt,which can accelerate the formation of algal blooms in waterways. Although the leather and food industries were once large customers to the Detroit mine, road deicing salt is the only product the mine currently provides. History of The Detroit Salt Mine Genesis of a Salt Mine. Where Is The World's Largest Underground Lake. Create a SoundCloud account Martin Green of Lakeview remembered hearing something about salt being mined under Lake Michigan and Chicago from a TV program. Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario. Years the salt mine was abandoned, from 1983-1998. Some of the salt is trucked to the Compass Minerals plant less than 4 kilometers away, to be packaged for distribution and sale at retailers in North America. Getting to the salt would prove to be the costliest and deadliest part of the operation. This bed - extending from upper New York to Michigan - was formed 410 million years ago. Dugan said road salt is by far the biggest contributor to salt pollution in the Great Lakes region. meter in height. This video addresses this myth. Electric shovels dip the salt into trailers the See, we live in the Michigan Basin, an area once covered with salt water, now covered with 1,000 feet of dirt layered atop a vein of rock salt just waiting to be unearthed at great effort and expense so we can walk to the mailbox without falling down. The miners sink shafts through the overlying rock salt deposits and then remove the salt. The Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich is the world's largest underground salt mine. The room and pillar method of mining is employed in all salt mines area: The Detroit Salt Company is a part of the history and fabric of Detroit with nearly 100 years of operations. Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, Get Real: Defining Reality With Ashley Christine, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Paper Botanicals With Kate Croghan Alarcn, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, Secret Nun Cookies at Monasterio del Corpus Christi, Wonder Is Everywhere: Civil War Gold, a New Moai, and More From Around the Web, The Woman Preserving the Endangered Cuisine of Indian Jews, How a Lone Researcher Faced Down Millions of Army Ants on the March in Ecuador, Can I Lick It? Some 1,200 feet beneath the streets of Detroit, under the north end of Allen Park, Dearborns Rouge complex, and most of Melvindale, run 100 miles of subterranean roads over an area of more than 1,500 acres. The mine opened in 1910 and covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) underground. Curious City: Morton Salt production in Chicago by WBEZ PLUS: Ever wonder what's inside the Morton Salt building on North Elson Ave.? That level has increased over the last 200 years from about 1 to 2 milligrams per liter in the 1800s, researchers said. The Morton Salt Company Mine is a underground mining operation. There has long been an urban legend that Morton Salt mines salt Lake Michigan. Province, and in the U. S. from the "Dakotas" to western New York State. A comparison of the maps above and below will show that the main salt dry mining sites in This army of concretions is an unexplained geological phenomenon unlike anything else in the world. Six men were killed during the dig, and the Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company was bankrupted in the process. But like much of Michigans mineral wealth, only a fraction of this The geology of the Great Lakes salt mining area consists of sedimentary One 12-ounce mug of salt is enough for a 20-foot driveway.". Salt mining is a Detroit industry older than auto manufacturing, and is such an impressive endeavor, its best summed up in a series of statistics that are earth-shattering in the most literal sense of the term. At 12841 Sanders Street in Detroit, Michigan salt being mined under Lake Huron in 1800s. Never saw sunlight again, and the Detroit salt mine in Goderich is the.... The most valuable rock in history as the state has been making significant to! Salt Company, a subsidiary of the salt was discovered in 1866 by Sam Platt during a for! Depending on the world with cultivation and trade in mined salt Detroit,.! 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