A Salt Mine Under Detroit?
by Dave Weller
An interesting tidbit about the city of Detroit, MI is that there is a huge salt mine underneath the city. The mine is located 1,200 feet beneath Detroit’s surface, spreading out more than 1,500 acres, and has over 100 miles of underground roads.
The existence of rock salt in the Detroit area was discovered in 1895. By 1906, the Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company began the chore of creating a local rock salt mine.
The mine was purchased in 1914 by the International Salt Company. It kept expanding with the shaft extending 1160 feet under the city. The mine was producing 8,000 tons of rock salt each month, mainly for the leather and food processing industries.
In 1922, a second shaft was drilled to meet the demand of more salt. This second shaft became the shaft that hauled the equipment down to the mine. Equipment was disassembled at the top and then reassembled at the bottom. This shaft is still used today, while the first one is used to haul materials and labor.
In 1983, International Salt closed the mine’s operations. Two years after the closure, Crystal Mines, Inc., purchased the mine as a potential storage site. In 1997, the Detroit Salt Company, LLC, purchased the mine from Crystal Mines, Inc. and began salt production in the fall of 1998.
The mine is still in operation today, purchased by Stone Canyon Industries Holdings, LLC. Road deicing salt is the only product the mine currently provides.
