OpenYourMine. A Master education project dedicated to mineral resources and sustainability
Salt mining: methods of exploitation, processing and market future prospects
Karol Wojciechowski, 04.11.2020, Cuprum Novum – Wrocław, Poland Salt mining methods of exploitation, processing and market future prospects
Karol Wojciechowski , Msc. in Geophysics [email protected]
Energy Technologies Department KGHM CUPRUM Ltd. - Research and Development Centre
Cabo da Roca, OYM 2019 CONTENTS
1. Historical introduction 2. Natural sources 3. Mining 4. Processing 5. Uses 6. Market 7. Alternatives and future
CREDITS
The presentation is enhanced with amazing high-definition photos from TheAtlantic.com: The Strange Beauty of Salt Mines, which were taken by Reuters, AFP/Getty Images, AP Photo by: David Mercado, Ivan Alvarado, Eitan Abramovich, Kacper Pempel, Joerg Sarbach, Enrique Castro-Mendivil, Radu Sigheti, Daniel Mihailescu, Michel Laplace-Toulouse, Jens-Ulrich Koch, Jose Miguel Gomez, Sergei Supinsky, Simon Zo, Finbarr O'Reilly, Tim Wimborne, Janek Skarzynski, Adrees Latif, Mani Rana, Jose Luis Quintana, Anna Kope ć The rest of the pictures comes from Wikimedia Commons, part of the non-profit, multilingual, free-content Wikimedia family, otherwise they are signed. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Salt (NaCl ), sodium chloride , mineral substance of great importance to human and animal health, as well as to industry. Salt, for much of human history, has been a highly-valued commodity that served many purposes, but perhaps the most useful and powerful purpose is preservation . In the past salt has been a civilisation driver . The salt was valued so highly that it has been used as a legal tender since antiquity. The salt was likely a cause of many conflicts, including wars. Salt was so important that it has a religious significance. Access to salt has been one of the key factors shaping history. HISTORY
China Lake Yucheng, 6000 BCE Water was evaporating during summer months Egypt Salt evaporation from the Nile Delta Trona (Natron) was a non-marine evaporite mineral used for mummification Ancient Rome Cities were placed close to the sources of salt (Via Salaria – Salt Road) In Venice (600-900 CE) they started salt making in a connected ponds system
Access to salt has been one of the key factors shaping history. HISTORY
Access to salt has been one of the key factors shaping history. SALT SOURCES
Salt comes from two main sources: Sea water Rock salt (sodium chloride mineral halite) Rock salt occurs in vast beds of sedimentary evaporite minerals that result from the drying up of enclosed lakes, playas, and seas. 117,000,000 lakes scatter the earth, but only around 50 of them are salt lakes. Natural salt pans or salt flats can be found on deserts, where the rate of water evaporation exceeds the rate of precipitation.
Link with presentation about salt geology : ! Diapirs and Salt Domes-The Mechanism of Formation by Anna S. Lord A camel caravan at the edge of the salt pan in Ethiopia's Danakil depression, near Dallol volcano, on November 2004 SALT PRODUCTION METHODS
There are three methods used to produce salt:
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Solar Evaporation Rock mining SOLAR SALT
Capturing salt by evaporating seawater in natural lagoons or artificially created ponds, salt marshes or marine salt flats is one of the oldest processes. Salt marshes were mainly created near areas inhabited by ancient civilizations and on flat stretches of coastline. The principle has remained the same over centuries: sea water or natural brine evaporates up to the saturation point in open basins due to the action of sun and wind. Solar salt represents 10% of the salt produced in Europe and the main producers are located in France, Greece, Italy and Spain.
Historical salt pans in Aveiro, Portugal SALTS SOLUBILITY
Sea salt is composed of many different kinds of salts As water evaporates from seawater, the salinity of the remaining solution increases Different salts become insoluble at different salinities When a salt becomes insoluble, it precipitates (falls out of) solution and forms crystals EVAPORITE There are two types of evaporite deposits: Marine, which can also be described as ocean deposits Non-marine, which are found in standing bodies of water such as lakes Evaporites are considered sedimentary rocks and are formed by chemical sediments. Major groups of evaporite minerals SOLAR SALT
Source: EuSalt, the association of European and global crystallised salt producers Maras salt mines in Cuzco, Peru, 2009. Source of salt since ancie nt pre -Incan civilizations nowadays comprise about 3,000 small pools constructed on the slope of a mountain at the Urubamba valley in the Andean region of Cuzco ROCK MINING
Before industrial era, mining salt was one of the most expensive and dangerous of operations because of: rapid dehydration caused by constant contact with the salt accidental excessive sodium intake Thats why salt was often mined by slaves or prisoners. Life expectancy for the miners was low.
Salt properties makes the mines: Looks amazing! Are vulnerable for floods (water will dissolve the salt)
Historical fact: Chinese first discovered natural gas when they excavated rock salt, and used it to boil a rock salt solution . Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland UNESCO World Heritage Site ROCK MINED SALT
Source: EuSalt, the association of European and global crystallised salt producers The Saint Kinga's Chapel in the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow, Poland. The historic mine extends for a total of about 300 km and functioned continuously since the Middle Ages until 1996 when the salt bed ceased to be exploited completely. The mine, which is on the UNESCO's Cultural and Natural Heritage list, currently serves tourism, museum and health purposes The underground Lake Wessel in the Wieliczka Salt Mine , 2018, Poland Inside Salina Veche, in Sl ănic, Prahova, Romani a The Donbas Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Austrian Kurt Schmid, plays in a salt mine chamber - 300 meters deep, 120 meters long, and 30 meters tall during a concert in Soligorsk , Belarus, on October 2004. The concert was organized in the mine for its good acoustics. Salt mine of Garmsar , Iran. Deposit near ground level . KGHM Polkowice -Sieroszowice Mine , Salt Department , Poland CASE STUDY: LAKE PEIGNEUR
In the morning of November 21, 1980, a Texaco oil rig team on Louisiana's Lake Peigneur miscalculated the drilling location and crushed into the operating salt mine The lake turned into a swirling vortex of mud, trees, and barges. It was the largest man-made whirlpool in history River changed the direction and made a waterfall, filling up the empty lake again The accident permanently transformed a 3 m deep freshwater lake into a 60 m deep saltwater one
Check on YouTube: ! Lake Peigneur drilling accident SOLUTION MINING
The salt used in this process is extracted from the rock salt layer by pumping down water and forcing out the resulting brine. This concentrated salt solution is piped to the collection tank and from here it is transported to the saltworks for softening and for undergoing the crystallisation process in the evaporator plant or as a brine joins chloralkali chemical industry. This method yields a very high purity of salt which can be excellent for chemical applications. In-situ leach is widely used to extract deposits of water-soluble salts such as potash (sylvite and carnallite), rock salt (halite), sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate. Solution mined salt represents 60% of the salt produced in Europe and the main producers are located in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Poland and Switzerland. SOLUTION MINING
Source: EuSalt, the association of European and global crystallised salt producers Gas/Oil/Brine SOLUTION storage in leached big salt MINING dome SOLUTION MINING of Potassium-rich salt
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Single well cavern . Operational phases: sump preparation, open deposit and exploitation SOLUTION MINING of Potassium-rich salt
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Dual well cavern . Operation phase: sump preparation, cavern connection and exploitation SOLUTION MINING of Potassium-rich salt
Solubility to temperature relation Horizontal cavern