Description:
The first method to obtain salt is through mining. Many salt companies use deep-shaft mining in order to obtain rock salt. This kind of mining is similar to the way most other materials are mined. The salt is located as deposits on underground seabeds. Shafts are made through the Earth but cutting and drilling through the seabeds to get to the salt. After the salt is removed and crushed, its is brought back up to the surface on a conveyer belt. The salt that is collected in this fashion is usually used as rock salt.
Source: Detroit Free Press
Environmental Impact:
Mining salt causes caverns beneath the Earth’s surface. Creating these caverns can lead to the collapse of the surrounding rock. This could change the level of the Earth by a process of subsidence. Subsidence is the gradual sinking of an area of land. These impacts on the environment could be catastrophic, causing death because of such property damage in some cases. However, in most cases subsidence causes structural damage that ranges from barely noticeable to severe.