Halite

Pure halite is a colorless crystal by nature but can become colored by impurities caused by the minerals that have come to settle near the salt. In its rock for, it is a soft mineral that breaks into cube form. Unlike most minerals, halite can easily be dissolved in water, allowing it to be made useful for such applications as in food preparation and preservation, and chemical production.

The evolution of mankind has long been influenced by salt. Salt has been a prime factor of economic, religious, social and political development.

The Peng-Tzao-Kan-Mu of China is the earliest known treatise on pharmacology (2,700-4,700 BCE), much of which was devoted to a discussion of more than 40 kinds of salt. The treatise included descriptions of two methods of extracting and processing salt that are startlingly similar to methods used today.

Salt was an important trading commodity. It was used as an exchange for slaves in ancient Greece, giving rise to the expression "not worth his salt." King Ancus Martius (640 - 616 B.C.) founded the first Roman colony at Ostia because of the salt marshes found there, and the Via Salaria (Salt Road) was built to carry salt to the city. Its inclusion in the rations of Roman soldiers, referred to as "salarium argentum," has given rise to the myth that Roman soldiers were paid in salt, and "salarium" is in fact the forerunner of the English word "salary."

Salt has been used as the currency itself. In Tibet, Marco Polo saw tiny cakes of salt, pressed with images of the Grand Khan, used as coins.

The human body contains about four ounces of salt. It is essential to all living creatures and even many plants. Since the body cannot manufacture it, salt is an "essential" nutrients, and as an electrolyte, we lose it every time we sweat. Without enough salt, muscles won't contract, blood doesn't circulate, food goes undigested, and the heart ceases beat

Approximately, 440 million years ago the earths land masses were clumped into two large super continents, Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south. These super continents broke apart when the tectonic plates shifted about 200 million years ago.

Over the millions of years salt water from two giant oceans to the east and west poured into a basin between the two continents at the equator. Because of the warm temperatures, the water would evaporate quickly leaving layers of salt. Eventually the salt layer became about 10 kilometers thick in places.

The tectonic plates separated and the continent's moved into their various positions. The basin was pulled north and west with North America and would eventually form the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

With all the volcanic activity and erosion of coastal land masses because of the plate movement, sediment fell on to the salt beds. Less evaporation of water was happening because of the cooling periods of the glacial ages and because of the northern movement, so the was less mixture of salt and sediment.

The sediment had minerals within its crusts which fell onto the salt and over the years changed the halite color depending on the mineral. Sulphuric might have turned the salt yellow. Potassium changed the halite orange. Naturally forming radio-active potassium created the rare blue salt.

As the pressure of the sediment, which became approximately 4 kilometers thick around the outer edges of the Gulf increased, it cause the salt below it to heat up. When salt warms, it becomes malleable and was forced up through weaknesses in the sediment in huge domes. It pushed the sediment up and out of the sea. These sedimentary islands became the Magdalens or as they are more commonly known, les Iles de la Madeleine.

In the 1970's, a division of Texaco Oil called S.A.R.A.P. began drilling test holes about the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. They found a flat bed of salt with natural gas pockets in it and oil under it. More than half of the Gulf, the southern half was rich in minerals. They wanted to test on the islands, so they bought most of Brion Island, for $10,000 and drilled on the east end.

Much to the geologists surprise, they struck salt very close to the surface. They found natural gas and oil for future use but it was the salt that became of interest. When leaving they gave their findings to the Canadian Salt Company, who decided to make test holes around all the islands, except for Coffin Island or what is now unofficially called Grande-Entree Island. The Anglican Church in Grosse Isle owns the mineral rights there.

The Canadian Salt Co. found that each of the seven main islands sat on its own dome of salt. Amherst, Grindstone, House Harbour, Point-aux-Loups, Grosse Isle, Brion and the Bird Rocks. They chose Grosse Isle to sink their mine for several reasons. First the dome was only 30 meters below the surface. Second, the summit was not int he center of a village, therefore there is less grievance from the population and third, creating a port that could handle the huge 900 foot salt boats was relatively inexpensive because they could use the natural protection of the lagoon and sail the ships right to the conveyor at the wharf.

In the early 80's, the sold the mine holdings to Mine Seleine, a division of the Morton Salt. They continued to develop the mine which is approximately one kilometer north to south and one half a km east to west and five levels deep. In 2010 they started to create the salt ramp which leads down to what will become the six level in about five years.

Today, the Mines Seleine has 160 persons working in the Grosse Ile Corporation. Approximately 140 men and women are unionized workers trained for mining and about 20 persons are working as office staff.

The salt boat, the Salarium comes approximately fifty-two times a year and takes loads of 24,000 tons of salt to storage facilities in Newfoundland. The Salarium cargo hold can hold 34,000 tons, but will strike the bottom of the bay if she takes more than 24,000 tons.

Once the salt is in Newfoundland, the Salarium fill fill her holds and sail up river to supply various ports of call or she may sail to the New England States. Other ships from other countries may purchase salt from the Newfoundland facility or they may enter the channel at Grand Entry and come to the mine directly, but they too are limited to the amount of salt they can leave with.

When they started the salt mine 30 years ago, it was determined that the mine would last about 50 years. In the next 20 years, they will take the mining operations down another three levels to level 9.

Because they are using salt pillars to support the mine and at each level the pillars are becoming larger, the space between the pillars are becoming smaller. At level 9 the space between the pillars will be only 12 m, hardly wide enough for the large machines to pass each other.

That would normally be the end of the salt mine as we know it. But with the invention of smaller more powerful machines, possibly run by remote control, Mines Seleine believes in the possibility of mining three more levels before calling the mine finished. That will extend the life span of the mine an extra twenty years.

After that, there are other possibilities for the mine. A tunnel dug under the sea to Grosse Isle proper and start the mine again another 12 levels another 50 to 70 years of profits. They would convey the crushed salt through horizontal corridors until they mount it to the surface.