North America to Get First New Salt Mine in Decades

The salt-mining sector plays an important role in the North American Metals & Minerals Industry. Salt is used not only for food but also for de-icing roads and as a raw material for manufacturing chemicals such as chlorine, caustic soda and soda ash. North America’s vast salt deposits make the continent self-sufficient for salt production. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1 billion worth of active projects involving salt mining. Currently on the table is what is expected to be the first new salt mine in North America in 30 years.

The grassroot mine in question will be at the Great Atlantic Salt (GAS) deposit in western Newfoundland, a salt resource discovered through oil and gas exploration that has a verified reserve of 383 million metric tons and inferred resources of 868 million tons. The mine initially will produce 2.5 million tons per year of rock salt that will be used for de-icing roads over a 34-year mine life.

However, the mine could last longer than that. A few years after initial operations, the developer of the GAS deposit, Atlas Salt Incorporated (St. John’s, Newfoundland) plans to launch an expansion that would boost production to 4 million tons per year and extend the mine’s life to 47.5 years. Initial development of the mine is expected to start early next year, with first production in mid-2029. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the reports on the initial construction and expansion.

Another Newfoundland salt project is expected in the more distant future when Atco Mining Incorporated (Vancouver, British Columbia) begins developing its Eagle Salt Project, which is located near other ATCO salt projects. The Eagle mineral claims include more than 10,000 hectares, and ATCO intends to develop the site as a solution salt cavern, enabling the production of road salt and also salt domes for potential hydrogen storage. Work could begin in 2034, and the property is expected to take two years to develop before production begins. Subscribers can click here to learn more about the project.

Some of the U.S.’ biggest salt deposits are in Louisiana, where Compass Minerals International Incorporated (NYSE:CMP) (Overland Park, Kansas) is preparing to descend to lower production depths at an existing mine. At the Cote Blanche room and pillar mine operation, Compass will build a ramp from the current 1,500-foot level to 1,700 feet, relocating the underground mill in order to access deeper reserves and maintain the mine’s production of 2.2 million tons per year from 2032 through 2068. The project is expected to kick off in 2027 and be completed by the end of 2031, allowing Compass to maintain steady production from the mine. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for more details on the project.

Compass is underway with a project at a facility near Goderich, Ontario, also to maintain the mine’s output. Since 2022, Compass has been replacing seven continuous miners to maintain production of 6.5 million tons of salt per year. A continuous miner is a single machine that performs multiple functions, including cutting, loading, and conveying mined material. Replacement of the last miner is expected to be completed in 2026. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the project report.

Another project to maintain consistent production is occurring at Cargill Salt Incorporated’s (Wayzata, Minnesota) site in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, where the company in 2024 started a three- to five-year project to modernize the salt evaporation processing plant, replacing outdated manufacturing equipment with more productive machinery to efficiently sustain the facility’s production of 250,000 tons of salt per year. Subscribers can click here to learn more.

Subscribers to Industrial Info’s GMI Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.