History On a per-capita basis, Canada is the largest consumer of salt in the world. Our high consumption, which is about 360 kg (790 lb.), of salt per person per year, is due to severe winter conditions in many parts of the country and our use of salt to improve winter driving conditions. The earliest known production of salt in Saskatchewan was by the Senlac Salt Co. in about 1920, at Salt Lake south of Senlac in the west central area. The next major discovery was that of salt brine, in the Simpson area, in the 1930's. In 1946, salt and potash were discovered near Unity. A salt brining operation began a few years later and today, the plant is operated by Sifto Canada Inc. Today, Saskatchewan has two primary producers of salt and four secondary producers. Description of Salt Salt is a common part of our lives that needs little introduction. We use salt on our roads in the winter, feed it to livestock and place it in our food. Salt is a natural resource that is mined, processed and marketed. Salt, or sodium chloride, is an abundant, crystalline solid found in various locations in the province. The origin of salt appears to be from the rocks and mineral of the earth, released after millions of years. Location Major salt beds underlie a broad belt of the our province and throughout the western provinces, extending from the extreme southwestern comer of Manitoba northwestward across Saskatchewan and into the north-central part of Alberta. Depths vary, and the beds are flat-lying, and undisturbed (geologically speaking), permitting easy mining. This principle source, extending over most of the southern third of the province, is the thick, massive halite of the extensive potash-bearing Devonian Prairie Evaporite Formation. Including the salt beds, sodium chloride occurs in Saskatchewan in one of three ways. saline springs subsurface formation brines extensive strata of halite (salt beds) Thick halite deposits are of economic significance not only for their salt resources but also as a medium for the development of salt caverns for the storage of natural and manufactured gases. Saline springs are common to an area in east-central Saskatchewan, near the limit of the Devonian rocks and there are a few other saline springs scattered through western Saskatchewan and along the northern limit of the Athabasca Basin. Mining Salt is produced in Saskatchewan from brine wells, as a by-product of solution potash mining, and as waste from underground potash mining. In underground mines, the milling of rock salt is done underground or on the surface mine site. The crushed rock is brought to the surface where it is further crushed, screened and sized. In the process, impurities of gypsum, anhydrite and limestone are removed, leaving the product with a purity of about 96 per cent or better. The products range in size from a piece one centimetre in diameter to a fine powder. Unrefined rock salt is useful for the manufacturing of chemicals and for winter snow and ice control on roads. Brining is a method whereby water is injected into salt deposits at up to 1000 metres in depth and the resultant brine, or saturated salt solution, is pump Another method of recovering salt is as a co product of potash. This method is used at Kalium Canada, Ltd., a solution-type potash mine near Regina, Saskatchewan, where a good quality salt brine is recovered and sold to The Canadian Salt Company for refining. Co-product rock salt from potash mining is produced at Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, by International Minerals & Chemical Corporation (Canada) Limited. The Processing of Salt For its main bulk usage, road de-icing, rock salt with a purity of 95 to 100 per cent is merely crushed, screened and sized, but it must be purified for almost all other uses. In the production of fine salt, a vacuum pan process is used to evaporate salt brine. Impurities are removed and the brine is fed into a series of three or four large cylindrical steel vessels. They are designed to operate under vacuum so the brine will boil at lower temperatures. The salt crystallizes and is removed as a slurry, washed, filtered and dried in a rotating cylinder of metal screen called a rotary-vacuum-filter dryer. The result is a product called fine salt, which can be further refined to make commercial salt products. Final processing involves screening and the removal of metallic impurities. The salt is then prepared and packaged for as many as 100 different end uses. It may be treated to 'iodize' it or to make it free flowing, or it may be pressed into blocks, briquettes or tablets. In processing, the salt may also be fused at temperatures of 815oC, when it becomes a clear liquid that looks and flows like water. The fused salt is piped from the furnaces into metal molds to make salt slabs which, in turn, are crushed and screened. Products from this process are used in refrigerator cars, water softeners and for hide-curing. Producers of Sodium Chloride Company Type of Production Products North American Salt Company; Sifto Canada Inc. Division: Unity operates a brining operation at Unity and a waste salt recovery plant near PCA's potash mine at Patience Lake fine vacuum pan salt compacted water softener salt agricultural and food processing salt The Canadian Salt Co. Ltd. Division: Regina Plant utilizes waste salt form Kalium Chemicals Ltd. solution potash mine near Belle Plain evaporated salt water softener salt agricultural and food processing salt ice control salt Saskatoon Chemicals Division of Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd. conducts a brining operation near Saskatoon caustic soda and chlorine chemicals for pulp and paper production International Minerals and Chemical Corporation (Canada) Ltd. produces by-product rock salt from its potash operation near Esterhazy road ice control salt Nusalt Corporation processes salt-rich potash tailings from PCS Rocanville potash mine road ice control salt Central Canada Potash Limited produces salt from its potash mine tailings near Colonsay road ice control salt domestic salt agricultural salt Uses for Salt The Saskatchewan industry produces a number of different salt products including fine vacuum pan table salt, water softening salt, livestock salt, road de-icing salt, and some salt further processed into caustic soda and chlorine chemicals for pulp and paper. Caustic soda and chlorine chemicals are used in the production of soap and detergents, pulp and paper, fibres and plastics, glass, petrochemicals, explosives, solvents and other chemicals. In addition to the uses already mentioned, Canadians use sodium chloride in the food industry - meat packers use it for curing hams and bacon; used for flavouring in canned food and baked goods; in the home for the same purposes: cooking, canning, pickling and making sauces fishing industry - in packing fish because it prevents the development of bacteria consumer industry - salt tablets are used for the prevention of heat exhaustion (especially for people who work in high-temperature locations) and by athletes to restore the body salt lost in perspiration Economic Impact for Saskatchewan Saskatchewan production is about five per cent of total Canadian salt production. The major market for Saskatchewan salt is Western Canada. Significant growth depends upon the expansion of the chemical industry. The Future: How Much is Left? For practical purposes, salt resources in Saskatchewan may be considered unlimited.