Re: Salt Mining Question

Saltpeter was most often a secondary derivation of bat or bird guano, 
and therefore not usually "mined" in the sense that there are huge salt 
mines under Hutchinson, Kansas, and other petroleum rich areas (New 
Mexico, Louisana, TX in the US. As far as I know, much saltpeter mining 
was historically done in the caves of th western Appalachians and 
Ozarks; neither place has much native salt. (Some salt springs, but 
nothing like Kansas.

Basil Halhed wrote:
> Hi, Leigh,
>
> 	Thanks for your interesting questions.
>
> 	First, looking at paragenesis of KNO3 (saltpeter) and NaCl, or 
> "salt".
>
> 	Salt, is formed by evaporation of ancient seas that became 
> landlocked or similar circumstances like lagoons and reefs.
>
> 	Saltpeter, on the other hand, generally forms from evaporites 
> from water which has leached the nitrates out of sedimentary rocks -- 
> salt-peter being very soluble.  It's usually found in arid regions.  
> The nitrogen in sediments is usually biological in origin.
>
> 	Because they taste quite different, I doubt that they could be 
> accidently mistaken, one for the other.
>
> 	And then too, saltpeter has rhombohedral or trigonal crystals, 
> so it wouldn't be the nice tidy cubes of NaCl.
>
> 	And they really seldom, if ever, occur in the same sort of 
> places in meaningful concentrations of both -- seawater, for example, 
> contains nearly 10,000 times more Cl than NO3.
>
> 	Thanks for the good question.
>
> 	Basil
>
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, 
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] says...
>
> > Hello.
> >
> > I tried to research this on the Web, but I'm having trouble finding
> > the answer to my rather specific questions, so I thought I'd see if
> > anyone in here could help me.
> >
> > What I am concerned with specifically is salt mining as opposed to
> > saltpeter mining.
> >
> > I know that they are not the same thing, but my impression from what I
> > have read is that they often occur naturally in the same kinds of
> > places, and are therefore often mined together.
> >
> > Is this correct, or am I totally off base?
> >
> > I'm also curious to know whether it would have been possible in "olden
> > days" to have mistaken one for the other.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your help.


--
Geo Communications Services -- www.geocommunications.net
Jo Schaper's Missouri World -- http://www.missouriworld.net