Salt mines are excavated areas used to extract salt, which can be found in seawater or on dry land. The mining process involves blasting and crushing the crystals before sending them to the surface for processing. Salt is widely used for industrial and food applications and is abundant in seawater and underground deposits. The mining process is laborious and involves drilling holes and using explosives to break the rock. The modern salt mine was developed after the creation of the internal combustion engine.
A salt mine is an area excavated above or below the earth’s surface created for the purpose of extracting this sought-after mineral. This widely used crystalline mineral varies in color and can be found in seawater or on dry land. It is necessary to mine the salt to reach the underground deposits. A salt mine has shafts for entry and exit and is typically made up of rooms created in a checkerboard pattern. Mining and processing includes loose blasting the crystals, then crushing them multiple times before sending them to the surface for further processing.
Also called sodium chloride, salt is a mineral with a cubic and crystalline formation. Its color varies from gray to transparent or from frosty white to pink, depending on its purity and the mineral composition of the parent rock. It is widely used for industrial and food applications.
Salt is a very abundant mineral and is most commonly found in seawater, making up 77 percent of the dissolved solids there. Deposits on the earth’s surface are the result of past evaporation of water bodies. Salt deposits are also found underground, in domes or veins between layers of sedimentary rock. In the latter cases, the extraction requires the creation of a salt mine.
Like coal operations, a salt mine uses shafts to allow for the transportation of personnel, supplies, and mined rock below and above ground. One well is for people and another for mined salt and supplies which are carefully pulled up and down. The trees also provide fresh air for the working miners. The mining rooms are usually created in a checkerboard pattern so that some 35 to 55 percent of the salt is left in the form of pillars. These offer structural support for the mine.
The mining process is laborious and begins with cutting a horizontal slot under a wall of salt, into which the exploded pieces will eventually fall. Holes about 10 feet (about 3 m) or deeper are drilled in the side and dynamite is placed in them. The explosives are remotely detonated when no personnel are present in the salt mine and the rock breaks and falls to the floor. The miners collect the ore and it travels down a conveyor belt where it is crushed several times before being sent to the surface. The salt is then sieved through several screens and stored for packing and shipping.
Until the Industrial Revolution, salt was scarce and extraction was considered extremely dangerous and costly. Before that, salt mining was mostly done by slaves who were, in fact, traded for the commodity in places like ancient Greece. The modern salt mine was developed after the creation of the internal combustion engine.
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