Goderich, Ont., hosts the largest underground salt mine in the world and serves as a key supplier of road salt used for winter maintenance. Even so, communities throughout Ontario including Strathroy-Caradoc are struggling with limited salt availability this winter. In response, the City of London has implemented operational changes aimed at stretching its remaining supply.
Ontario’s primary salt production comes from mines in Goderich and Windsor. The Goderich facility produces about 7.25 million tonnes of salt each year and is capable of increasing output to 9 million tonnes. Recently, more than 100 empty transport trucks were lined up outside the mine awaiting shipments destined for municipalities across the province. The mine is owned by U.S.-based Compass Minerals.
Meanwhile, large vessels continue to load Canadian salt at the Port of Goderich for export to the United States, despite ongoing shortages at home. To secure supply, some distributors serving municipalities and major contractors have turned to the Port of Montreal, where long queues have formed to collect imported salt shipped from overseas locations, including Egypt.
Written by: C. Soares