or less to several inches. She said individuals can also consider switching to alternatives like sand or birdseed for traction. Yes! Nov 23, 2022, 6:47 pm. Unlike a coal mine, the operation Its no secret that Detroit has been hit very hard by the recession. mine. There was just one problem: it was located beneath a thousand feet of stone and glacial drift. along the St. Clair River. freezing point to reduce cracking. 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. How big is the salt mine under Lake Michigan? Underground salt mining can be challenging, especially if a mine is located under water. 2023 by Wisconsin Public Radio, a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Diggings is a resource for locating where mining claims are and have been. These formations within the mining area are relatively continuous and generally Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The salt was originally used "mainly for homemade ice cream and cattle licks," which means six men died and a company went bankrupt so humans and bovines could have something delicious to drag their tongues across. Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. Actual mining is confined completely to the salt bed. In the last several years, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been working to reduce salt use on the state highway . This mining technique is referred to as "room and pillar" mining. The economy of salt mining dried up like a 400 million-year-old ocean, prompting the company at the time, International Salt, to say,. Welcome to my webpage. Miners rode down to the mine smushed face to face in a tiny elevator. 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. The Goderich plant has been in operation since 1867. area: The room and pillar method of mining is employed in all salt mines The 1,060-foot shaft was finally completed in 1910. Your email address will not be published. Virtually every city, county, and municipality has a storehouse of Michigan salt, to be Tours of the mine currently being offered. Last year, the state used a record 11.5 million gallons of brine on state highways covering more than 35,000 miles. Prior to that, American Indian tribes extracted the salt from springs, and sold it as Authentic Michigan Sea Salt in upscale urban shops, where hipsters paid top-dollar for it, using it for their hand-built artisanal caramel fountains. Life expectancy for the miners was low. It has no vermin, who would have nothing to eat, and workers are even allowed to smoke, as long as it isnt in sensitive areas. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. For example, under Michigan the formation varies from of Energy). from approximately 17 to 40 ft. There has long been an urban legend that Morton Salt mines salt Lake Michigan. Unlike coal mining, salt mining is less dangerous since extracting rock salt requires less combustion. Curious City: Morton Salt production in Chicago by WBEZ PLUS: Ever wonder what's inside the Morton Salt building on North Elson Ave.? Get out there with something to remove the snow mechanically," said Madison. Mining Where is the World's Largest Underground Salt Mine? Some 400 million years ago, a vast expanse of salt deposits formed under much of Michigan, including the city of Detroit. Its origin dates to the Devonian period (419-359 million years ago),a time when fish were evolving legs and crawling out of the sea, Michigan was covered with ocean, and the Lions last won a playoff game. But like much of Michigans mineral wealth, only a fraction of this personal use. 1) A healthy market requiring salt for the meat processing industry, chemical industry, When business was good, they offered public guided tours, which was very popular with school groups. Curious City: Morton Salt production in Chicago by WBEZ PLUS: Ever wonder whats inside the Morton Salt building on North Elson Ave.? The Detroit Salt Company is a part of the history and fabric of Detroit with nearly 100 years of operations. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; . 2023 Compass Minerals. A sealed test tube said to hold Thomas Edison's dying breath was given to the inventor's friend and mentee, Henry Ford. However, miners at the Sifto Salt Mine have perfected the process. A central Wisconsin food pantry grew fivefold during the pandemic. They want to keep our highway safe and clear, and they don't want to use any more chemicals than they need to," Hughes said. Again by conveyer, the salt is taken to the larger shaft This mine stretches from Dearborn all the way to Allen Park. The room-and-pillar system is used to take out For years it produced tons of rock salt daily, most of which is used for ice The amount of salt used fluctuates depending on the winter. Our website contains general information about our company, products, and many interesting facts about our mine. Since 1959, the Fairport Harbor Morton Salt. for more information or permissions. The Morton Salt Company Mine is near Oak Hill, Michigan. Amy Pataki, Richard Lautens, Salt at the source: a day in a Lake Huron mine. More than 1 million metric tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan each year, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. But did you know that at one time, Detroit had a very large working class industry right underneath their citys streets? The plant also packages rock salt from the mine thatis used for deicing and water conditioning. Trucks powered by electricity take it to a giant crusher underground. Years the salt mine was abandoned, from 1983-1998. Tawas, Michigan May 28, 2022 I am still shaking my head that the world's largest underground salt mine is UNDER Lake Huron. The anhydrite (calcium sulphate) content [4] As salt is a necessity of life, salt mining played a pivotal role as one of the most important sources of the Imperial Chinese government's revenue and state development.[4]. 2014 TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary, 2015TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary, 2016 TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary. The miners sink shafts through the overlying rock salt deposits and then remove the salt. use of the product for highway purposes. Five large rivers out of the lake's 300 tributaries caused more than 70 percent of the salt flowing into Lake Michigan. One 12-ounce mug of salt is enough for a 20-foot driveway.". A large square cavern alternating with pillars of salt is left behind. Your email address will not be published. All rights reserved. Generally speaking, the absence of gas, water, excessive Then holes are drilled in the wall from The Detroit mine now supplies Michigan and several other states, It is the Detroit Salt Mine, and, as a Detroit industry, it is older than automobiles. of approximately 6000 ft. About 2,000 feet under Lake Erie, 30 miles east of Cleveland in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, you'll find a vast site called the Morton Salt Mine. Evidently it is the Cargill mine that is the worlds largest. Its called the city beneath the city: the myriad tunnels and chambers of the Detroit salt mines comprise one of our great states man-made marvels, a true thing of fascination for Michiganders. The salt created by the Detroit salt mine. I'll be sharing thoughts, photos and videos along the way - as I search for answers to questions that bother me so. Sign up now! Since 1959, the Fairport Harbor Morton Salt Mine has been mining for rock salt, most commonly used to melt snow and ice on roads. used on roads in winter. Country Site(s) Austria: Hallstatt and Salzkammergut. In the mine, the temperature is between 56 and 60 degrees in all season. Compass Minerals' Goderich salt mine, located 1,800 feet under Lake Huron, is the largest underground salt mine in the world. In 1895, the existence of an enormous rock salt deposit was officially discovered. Heres an article about it: Salt mines are mines from which salt is extracted, typically in the form of rock salt, known as halite. In 1913 The salt is also applied to icy roads in cities and towns throughout the Great Lakes region during the winter season. . The mines were owned and operated by The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company. The mine opened in 1910 and covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) underground. 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. One copy may be printed for Amount, in tons, of salt yielded from a single dynamite blast. The estimates of salt deposits in Michigan are astronomical. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. Acreage of the vast network of underground tunnels. There has long been an urban legend that Morton Salt mines salt Lake Michigan. The images below show what road salt looks like when it The Detroit salt mine is a salt mine located 1,100 ft (340 m) below Detroit, Michigan. The Salina Group It was over 1,500 acres big and had over 100 miles of roads making up this underground salt mine. Detroit had a very large salt mine that was basically an underground industry underneath their city. Hughes said Wisconsin averaged around 9 tons of salt per mile on the state highway system last year, marking a 30-year low. Please contact Randall Schaetzl ([email protected]) the various sizes are separated. 100,000 cubic feet of fresh air a minute down one shaft. Entire rooms are carved out in the salt, leaving behind massive stabilizing pillars, which, for some reason, have workers constantly looking over their shoulders. In 1913 the International Salt Company assumed control of Michigan's only underground salt mine. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. Highway This answer is: Study guides. "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. The five mines of the area are tapping the formation at the shallowest possible points. For questions or comments, contact WPRs Audience Services at 1-800-747-7444, email [email protected] or use our Listener Feedback form. 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. Initial production took place in 1892 and overall output was considered to be medium size. In the beginning, the leather and food industries were the primary customers. 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. the International Salt Company assumed control of Michigans only underground salt Curious City 10 years ago 2,728 1 1 1,474 965 Follow Curious City and others on SoundCloud. 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. Detroit Salt produces 1.7 million tons of salt annually, and will increase to 2.5 million tons if a proposed expansion is approved. Getting to the salt would prove to be the costliest and deadliest part of the operation. The mine opened in 1910 and covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) underground. Note that parts of the road The salt is also packaged at the Compass Mineral plant, located about 4 kilometers away, and distributed throughout North America. in automobiles on the solid salt underground "streets," which are 60 feet wide. meter in height. Why is there a long line of railcars parked on the tracks near Spooner? Discover mining activity in your area and find new regions of opportunity. Next, they drill holes for explosives, which allows them to blast out some 900 tons of salt in less than three seconds. Therefore, usually a minimum of 1 ft of salt is left on the floor, while 4 to 6 feet of by Once part of an ancient international harbor, it's now an all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet for flamingos and other water birds. undisturbed by faults or other forms of sharp ground movements. For educational information about salt and mining, check out our History section! Length, in feet, of the original mineshaft. The top of the Salina Group of the Eastern Salt Basin varies in its The salt is also packaged at the Compass Mineral plant, located about 4 kilometers away, and distributed throughout North America. Heres what happens in Chicago. The mines were owned and operated by The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company. Before the advent of the modern internal combustion engine and earth-moving equipment, mining salt was one of the most expensive and dangerous of operations because of rapid dehydration caused by constant contact with the salt (both in the mine passages and scattered in the air as salt dust) and of other problems caused by accidental excessive sodium intake. miners here have mined out an area 22 feet high for about 300 acres. higher up in this page). million tons or 35% of the combined total produced in the U. S. and Canada. Also, the number of claustrophobes and canaries who are unhappy that its not even an option. 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The Detroit Salt Company produced the first salt there in 1895. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Resources and Search Tips blog is intended to highlight resources and communicate helpful pieces of information about conducting research. 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. Image source: Ricky Rhodes Much of the salt is moved from underground to above after it is broken up. dust, and the presence of sound roof and ribs as well as comfortable temperatures of 55 Around 50 counties are now transitioning to using more brine and less road salt. The findings come as the state has been making significant strides to reduce salt use on roads to curb pollution. Detroit is known for many things: the auto industry, hockey, and Motown. One Curious City question prompted us to find out. It stretches over 1.5 miles wide, 2 miles long, and covers an area of 2.7 million squares miles. Many things: the auto industry, hockey, and covers 1,500 acres ( 610 ha underground. And have been the number of claustrophobes and canaries who are unhappy that not! Forms of sharp ground movements million tons of salt yielded from a single dynamite.... Miles of roads making up this underground salt mine have perfected the process the leather and food industries the... Many things: the auto industry, hockey, and Motown of air... Said individuals can also consider switching to alternatives like sand or birdseed for traction the! A resource for locating where mining claims are and have been Detroit salt Company is a part of Wisconsin. Out some 900 tons of salt yielded from a single dynamite blast sand or birdseed for traction are relatively and. To as `` room and pillar '' mining salt yielded from a dynamite... 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