Salt mine
Overview
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
operation involved in the extraction of rock salt or halite
Halite
Halite , commonly known as rock salt, is the mineral form of sodium chloride . Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on the amount and type of impurities...
from evaporite
Evaporite
Evaporite is a name for a water-soluble mineral sediment that result from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. There are two types of evaporate deposits, marine which can also be described as ocean deposits, and non-marine which are found in standing bodies of...
deposits.
Areas known for their salt mines include Kilroot near Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus , known locally and colloquially as "Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,201 at the 2001 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th century king...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
(over 100 years old with more than 25 km of passages); Khewra
Khewra
Khewra is a town of Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil in Jhelum District, Punjab province, Pakistan, it is located at 32°38'60N 73°1'0E. The town is administratively subdivided into two Union Councils and is the location of the Khewra Salt Mines.-References:...
and Warcha
Warcha
Warcha is a village and one of the 51 Union Councils of Khushab District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Warcha salt mines has the best rock salt of the world both in purity and color...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
; Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...
in Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
; Wieliczka
Wieliczka
-External links:***...
and Bochnia
Bochnia
Bochnia is a town of 30,000 inhabitants on the river Raba in southern Poland. The town lies approximately in halfway [] between Tarnów and the regional capital Kraków . Bochnia is most noted for its salt mine, the oldest functioning in Europe, built circa 1248...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(both established in the mid-13th century and still operating, mostly as museums); Hallstatt
Hallstatt
Hallstatt, Upper Austria is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See . At the 2001 census it had 946 inhabitants...
and Salzkammergut
Salzkammergut
The Salzkammergut is a resort area located in Austria. It stretches from City of Salzburg to the Dachstein mountain range, spanning the federal states of Upper Austria , Salzburg , and Styria . The main river of the region is the Traun, a tributary of the Danube...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
; Rheinberg
Rheinberg
Rheinberg is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel....
in Germany; Slănic
Slănic
Slănic is one of the 14 towns of Prahova County, Romania, historically and currently known as a salt extraction center, as well as a spa town, with salt lakes...
, Cacica, Ocnele Mari
Ocnele Mari
Ocnele Mari is a town located in Vâlcea County, Romania. The town administers eight villages: Buda, Cosota, Făcăi, Gura Suhaşului, Lunca, Ocniţa, Slătioarele and Ţeica.-References:...
, Salina Turda
Salina Turda
Salina Turda is a salt mine situated in Turda, Transylvania, Romania.- History :Salt was first extracted here during the antiquity and the mine continuously produced table salt from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century .Since 1992, Salina Turda has been a halotherapy center and a popular...
, Târgu Ocna
Târgu Ocna
Târgu Ocna is a town in Bacău County, Romania, situated on the left bank of the Trotuş River, an affluent of the Siret, and on a branch railway which crosses the Ghimeş Pass from Moldavia into Transylvania. Târgu Ocna is built among the Carpathian Mountains on bare hills formed of rock salt...
, Ocna Sibiului
Ocna Sibiului
Ocna Sibiului is a town in the centre of Sibiu County, in southern Transylvania, central Romania, 10 km to the north-west of the county capital Sibiu. The town administers a single village, Topârcea....
, and Praid
Praid
Praid is a commune in Harghita County, Romania. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, and is composed of six villages:-Demographics:...
in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
; Provadiya
Provadiya
Provadia is a town in northeastern Bulgaria, part of Varna Province, located in a deep karst gorge along the Provadia River not far from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Provadiya Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of...
in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
; Racalmuto
Racalmuto
Racalmuto is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian Autonomous Region of Sicily, located about 90 km southeast of Palermo and about 15 km northeast of Agrigento.Racalmuto borders the following municipalities: Bompensiere, Canicattì, Castrofilippo, Favara,...
, Realmonte
Realmonte
Realmonte is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 90 km south of Palermo and about 10 km west of Agrigento....
and Petralia Soprana
Petralia Soprana
Petralia Soprana is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 70 km southeast of Palermo...
within the production sites managed by Italkali in southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; Avery Island in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; the wich towns of Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
and Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
; and the Detroit Salt Company's 1500 acres (6.1 km²) subterranean complex 1100 feet (335.3 m) beneath the city of Detroit.
