Archive: Around Town

Last year at the annual CDC Auction, my husband and I were thrilled to have won the live auction item of "Cargill Salt Mine Tour." We had wanted to bid on it for several years and had decided that the time had come to see it for ourselves.

In June the much anticipated day arrived. Steve Horne the plant manager spent some time explaining the layout of the mine, safety procedures, and then outfitted us in reflective vests, safety glasses, steel toed boots and lamped hard hats. We descended into the mine at a rate of 650 feet per minute and arrived at 2300 feet in about 5 minutes.

The next few hours were a fascinating exploration of the mine and the different production processes that happen there, personally hosted by Steve, who was a very informative and gracious host. We toured miles of the mine on a John Deere Gator (small 4-wheeler). The Main Shop area, where vehicles and equipment are fixed and serviced, was impressive. I had not considered how important maintenance would be, but once the equipment is in the mine, usually dissembled and/or cut down to a size small enough to descend down the elevation shaft, it is there to stay.

 

 

The mine is home to a number of very large pieces of equipment, like a Loader-Hauler-Dumpers (LHD) which cost about $900,000 new and have to be ordered a year in advance of their arrival. The large bucket of a LHD, which is about 12 feet wide, would be cut into 5 pieces to descend the mine shaft and then be welded back together once it arrives in the Main Shop area.

 

The main shaft of the mine runs parallel to the west shore line of Cayuga Lake. Our trip took us to just north of Taughannock Park where one of the crews was preparing blasting holes. On our way to another work site we could hear the muffled sound of the blast. At our second work site we marveled at the large LHD as it scooped up newly blasted salt and weaved its way through the pillars to dump each load onto a conveyer belt.

 

It's a little eerie watching headlights of a huge piece of equipment appear and disappear in the salt dust haze as it moves very quickly back and forth along the same path from the salt to the conveyer belt. Nearby, another large machine, a Scaler, removes large chunks of salt left along the pillars or loose material on the roof in the areas already cleared by the LHD.

 

The tour was fascinating and definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The Cargill Mine Tour will once again be offered at the upcoming CDC auction this Saturday.

----
v4i41