Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials from the Earth and other astronomical objects. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. Ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Potash includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. The name derives from pot ash, plant ashes or wood ash soaked in water in a pot, the primary means of manufacturing potash before the Industrial Era. The word potassium is derived from potash.
Halite, commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride (NaCl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on inclusion of other materials, impurities, and structural or isotopic abnormalities in the crystals. It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the sulfates, halides, and borates. The name halite is derived from the Ancient Greek word for "salt", ἅλς (háls).
Cobalt is a town in Timiskaming District, Ontario, Canada. It had a population of 1,118 at the 2016 Census. The population is now closer to 943.
Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite, and extracted from evaporite formations.
Goderich is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time. It was incorporated as a town in 1850.
The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018.
Compass Minerals International, Inc is a public company that, through its subsidiaries, is a leading producer of minerals, including salt, magnesium chloride, sulfate of potash and other plant nutrition products. Based in Overland Park, Kansas; the company provides bulk treated and untreated highway deicing salt to customers in North America and the United Kingdom and plant nutrition products to growers worldwide. Compass Minerals also produces consumer de-icing and water conditioning products, consumer and commercial culinary salt, and other mineral-based products for consumer, agricultural, and industrial applications. In addition, Compass Minerals provides records management services to businesses throughout the United Kingdom.
Sherritt International is a Canadian resource company, based in Toronto, Ontario. Sherritt is a world leader in the mining and refining of nickel and cobalt – metals essential for the growing adoption of electric vehicles. Its Technologies Group creates innovative, proprietary solutions for oil and mining companies around the world to improve environmental performance and increase economic value. Sherritt is also the largest independent energy producer in Cuba. Sherritt’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “S”.
Mining in Iran is still under development, yet the country is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries, holding some 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tonnes of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tonnes of potential reserves worth $770 billion in 2014. Mineral production contributes only 0.6 per cent to the country's GDP. Add other mining-related industries and this figure increases to just four per cent (2005). Many factors have contributed to this, namely lack of suitable infrastructure, legal barriers, exploration difficulties, and government control.
The economy of Ontario is diversified. Ontario is the largest economy in Canada, making up around 38% of Canadian GDP. Though manufacturing plays an important role in Ontario's economy responsible for 12.6% of Ontario's GDP, the service sector makes up the bulk, 77.9%, of the economy. Ontario's net debt-to-GDP ratio will rise to 40.7% in the year 2019–2020.
Saltford is a small unincorporated community in Ontario, Canada, located at the intersection of Highway 21 and Saltford Road, on the east bank of the Maitland River in the township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh just east of Goderich. In early 1866, local entrepreneur Samuel Platt discovered the presence of brine while drilling for oil in the community. He subsequently developed a salt extraction business, using an evaporation process. This discovery inspired the development of several salt extraction operations in the immediate area, eventually culminating in the opening of the Sifto Salt mine in nearby Goderich, currently (2007) the third largest salt producer in the world.
Creighton Mine is an underground nickel, copper, and platinum-group elements (PGE) mine. It is presently owned and operated by Vale Limited in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Open pit mining began in 1901, and underground mining began in 1906. The mine is situated in the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) in its South Range geologic unit. The mine is the source of many excavation-related seismic events, such as earthquakes and rock burst events. It is home to SNOLAB, and is currently the deepest nickel mine in Canada. Expansion projects to deepen the Creighton Mine are currently underway.
Windsor Salt is a national salt mining, processing, and distribution company based in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada. It operates salt mines in Pugwash, Nova Scotia and Windsor, Ontario. From the salt it mines and produces through evaporative processes, it produces and distributes products for household use, food production, as well as products for agricultural, commercial, and industrial use. Government agencies use a number of its products for ice control on roads in the winter.
Madawaska Mine (previously known as Faraday Mine) is a decommissioned underground uranium mine in Faraday, near the town of Bancroft, Ontario, which produced 9 million pounds (4,082 tonnes) of U3O8 concentrate, at an average ore grade of 0.1074%, during its two periods of production.
Mining is the biggest contributor to Namibia's economy in terms of revenue. It accounts for 25% of the country's income. Its contribution to the gross domestic product is also very important and makes it one of the largest economic sectors of the country. Namibia produces diamonds, uranium, copper, magnesium, zinc, silver, gold, lead, semi-precious stones and industrial minerals. The majority of revenue comes from diamond mining. In 2014, Namibia was the fourth-largest exporter of non-fuel minerals in Africa.
Coloured Ties Capital Inc., formerly known as GrowMax Resources, is a Canadian mining and speciality chemicals and minerals company.
Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. Pakistan has deposits of several minerals including coal, copper, gold, chromite, mineral salt, bauxite and several other minerals. There are also a variety of precious and semi-precious minerals that are also mined. These include peridot, aquamarine, topaz, ruby, emerald, rare-earth minerals bastnaesite and xenotime, sphene, tourmaline, and many varieties and types of quartz.
Saskatchewan Minerals Inc. is a privately held company located in Saskatchewan, Canada, that mines and processes sodium sulphate. Originally established as a crown corporation in 1947. Today the company is one of the largest producers of anhydrous sodium sulphate in North America with production capability of 285,000 tons per year. The company has won the Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies award.
