Salt production

Salt production in South Australia

Joanne K Hough (Geological Survey Branch, PIRSA)

Introduction
In 2007 solar salt production in South Lake MacDonnell
Australia totalled 559 764 t with an _
[ "
)
Ceduna
ex-mine value of over $5.5m. Total
Port Augusta "
)
Australian salt production was 10.8 Mt.
In the 1960s South Australia produced
"
)
_
[ Whyalla
80% of Australia’s salt; however, Whyalla ")
this percentage decreased with major Port
Pirie
expansion of solar salt production in
Western Australia. _
[ Lochiel
Common salt or sodium chloride Price Renmark
_
[ "
)
(NaCl) is one of the most widely used
Port Lincoln
substances on earth with ~14 000 "
)
_
[ Dry Creek
direct and indirect uses reported. It is ADELAIDE "
)

composed of 39.3% sodium and 60.7%

_
[
chlorine by weight, and has been given 0 100 200 km
Lake Alexandrina
the mineralogical name halite. World Lamberts Conformal Conic
consumption is about 200 Mt/y.
The most common domestic use
for salt is as a food preservative and
additive. Other common uses are in the
leather tanning industry, commercial dye _
[ Salt producing operations
manufacture, and in the pulp and paper

PIRSA 203739_017
industry. Salt is an important feedstock
to the chemical industry as it is the "
)

cheapest and most common source of Figure 1 Salt producing operations in South Australia.
Mount Gambier

sodium carbonate (soda ash, Na2CO3),

which is produced via the Solvay
process. The Solvay process involves a
series of reactions which use ammonia
(NH3) as a catalyst:
CaCO3 [limestone] + 2NaCl [salt] --> CaCl2
[calcium chloride] + Na2CO3 [soda ash].
Sodium carbonate is an important
component in glassmaking, constituting
~20% of the weight of a glass batch,
and is used as a feedstock for the
manufacture of a range of sodium
chemicals, including sodium hydroxide
(caustic soda).
Large sedimentary deposits of salt
occur in many countries throughout the
world, but the largest resource is the
world’s oceans which contain 530 Mkm3
of water averaging 78 Mt/km3 of
salt. Most of the world’s salt supplies
are obtained by solar evaporation of
seawater which contains on average
3.6% dissolved salts, of which sodium
chloride comprises 77%. Salt is
harvested by exposing seawater to the
action of sun and wind in a chain of
concentrating ponds to the point where
it becomes saturated by evaporation
with common salt. The less soluble
salts, iron oxide and calcite, followed
by gypsum, are precipitated out at this
stage. The water is then pumped into
crystallising ponds where common salt
precipitates. The process is stopped
before all the salt comes down in order
to avoid contamination with magnesium
and potassium salts. The final liquors,
known as bitterns, are drained away
from the salt which is then harvested.
Early production
Earliest salt production in South
Australia was from White Lagoon on
Kangaroo Island in 1814 (Valentine
1989). An operation began at nearby
Salt Lake in 1897 and continued until
1961.
Prior to the establishment of a salt
industry at Edithburgh on the Yorke
Peninsula in 1891, as many as 60 lakes
were harvested by the local farming
community. Production from brines at
Peesey Swamp, Marion Lake and Lake
Fowler ceased with the closure of the
Edithburgh works in about 1965.
Salt was also produced by solar
evaporation of sea water near Port
Augusta at Yorkey Crossing (1915–30)
and Port Paterson (1915–63).
Current operations
Salt is currently harvested from Dry
Creek, Lake Bumbunga (Lochiel), Lake
MacDonnell, Price, Whyalla and Lake
Alexandrina (Fig. 1).
Dry Creek
Average production: 285 000 tpa
Cheetham Salt Limited
www.cheethamsalt.com.au
The Dry Creek salt pans are located
12 km NW of Adelaide. Imperial
Chemical Industries (ICI) began salt

32 MESA Journal 50 September 2008


production at Dry Creek in 1940. The
original area of operations was 810 ha,
which has steadily increased to the
4000 ha in use today. ICI sold the
operation to Penrice Soda Products in
1989. In 2005 they were purchased by
Ridley Corporation Limited and are
now operated by Ridley’s wholly owned
subsidiary, Cheetham Salt. Cheetham’s
tenements stretch from Dry Creek to St
Kilda Beach and further northward to
Webb Beach at Port Parham.
Two pumping stations, located at
Middle Beach and Chapman’s Creek,
pump salt water along the coast to the
crystallising area (Figs 2, 3). Harvested
salt is redissolved and pumped to
Penrice Soda Holdings Limited’s
Osborne plant for the manufacture
of sodium carbonate and sodium
bicarbonate. Limestone from the
Penrice Quarry near Angaston is used
with the salt for the Solvay process.
Price
Average production: 170 000 tpa
Ocsalt Pty Ltd (Cheetham Salt
subsidiary)
Salt has been produced by solar
evaporation of seawater at Price on
the Yorke Peninsula since 1919. The
Gulf Salt Co. Ltd began production
by evaporation of seawater captured
at high tide in a dam across Willis
Creek (Jack 1921 in Valentine 1989).
In 1923 the operations were transferred
to Ocean Salt Co. Ltd and a refinery
Figure 2 Harvesting salt at Dry Creek. (Courtesy of Cheetham Salt; photo 407246)
was established in 1930 (Wilmington
1930 in Valentine 1989). In 1971 Ocean
Salt Pty Ltd and its sister company,
Australian Salt Co Ltd, became wholly
owned subsidiaries of Cheetham Salt.
The operation is currently run
by Ocsalt from multiple tenements
comprising 1064 ha of evaporators,
crystallisers and a processing plant
which produces bagged and packaged
salt for industrial and household use.
Bulk salt is sent to Cheetham’s Geelong
refinery in Victoria or is shipped to
overseas markets in New Zealand and
South East Asia from BHP’s loading
facilities at Ardrossan. Uses include
foodstuffs, chemicals, dyes–pigments,
tanning, agriculture, metallurgy
ceramics, explosives, soaps and water
softener.
Lochiel
Average production: 10 000 tpa
Ocsalt Pty Ltd (Cheetham Salt
subsidiary)
Salt has been produced at Lochiel since
1912. The salt is dissolved from saline
mud produced when winter rain fills
the 1500 ha inland Lake Bumbunga.
The lake is the largest of a system
of Quaternary Holocene saline lakes
draining an area to the east of the
Barunga Range and extending ~30 km
north of Lochiel. The resultant brine is
pumped into three 25 ha crystallisers for
refining. Uses include water softener,
Salt production
tanning, butchering, snow clearing,
paper making and metallurgy.
Burnsfield Pty Ltd also has a
salt operation at Lochiel, producing
~400 tpa.
Lake MacDonnell
Average production: 100 000 tpa
Cheetham Salt Limited
Lake MacDonnell salt pans are situated
~15 km south of Penong on the Eyre
Peninsula. Salt has been produced at
Dry Creek land development
proposal
Ridley Corporation Limited owns
significant land near urban areas
that it is keen to sell or develop,
including its Cheetham Salt sites.
Cheetham Salt Limited is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Ridley and is
Australia’s largest producer and
refiner of salt, producing over
1.4 Mtpa. Cheetham currently
operates 12 solar salt fields in
Australia, of which four are located
in South Australia.
On 28 May 2008 Ridley along
with Delfin Land Lease announced an
alliance to investigate the possibility
of relocating part of one of its Dry
Creek salt fields to create a residential
and mixed-use development with
the potential to house up to 20 000
people. The salt pans cover 4000 ha,
of which 316 ha would be used for
the housing development.
A study of the site and its future
potential is well underway, with
the state government owned Land
Management Corp now a participant.
Concept plans being developed
include options for mixed use
housing, a marina and a watercourse.
Cheetham Salt is currently
contracted to supply brine to Penrice
Soda Holdings Limited and hold
numerous tenements to the north of
Dry Creek that have the potential to
supply brine well into the future.
A 14-year contract is in place for
supply of salt and there is an option
for a 14-year extension. Penrice
expects no disruption to long-term
contracts for salt supplies arising
from the proposed land development.
MESA Journal 50 September 2008 33
 Salt production
Figure 3 Salt stacks at Dry Creek. (Courtesy of Cheetham Salt; photo 407247)
Lake MacDonnell since 1920 by solar
evaporation of brine that seeps into a
shallow lake through porous coastal
dunes. Brine is also pumped into the
lake from nearby gypsum operations.
Lake MacDonnell occupies a NW–SE-
trending calcarenite dune of the
Pleistocene Bridgewater Formation.
Production from the 72 ha of
crystallising pans is either processed
and bagged on site, or railed in bulk to
Thevenard (64 km away) for shipment
to markets in South East Asia and New
Zealand or to the company’s Geelong
refinery. Uses include stock licks, water
34 MESA Journal 50 September 2008
treatment, chemicals, and paper, ice and
ceramics manufacture.
Whyalla
Average production: 40 000 tpa
OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd
www.onesteel.com
BHP began investigations for solar
salt sources in 1946 (Betheras 1956 in
Valentine 1989). In 1951 the company
commenced salt production at Whyalla
by solar evaporation of seawater.
Pacific Salt acquired the brine ponds
and crystallisers from BHP in 1988.
The leases are now held by OneSteel
Manufacturing Pty Ltd. Seawater and
water from the adjacent steelwork’s
cooling system supply 240 ha of brine
ponds and 20 ha of crystallisers.
Uses include water softener, crushed
coarse salt, coarse refined salt, flossy
and pool salt, dairy, table and fine
cooking salt, paper manufacture,
water softening, tanning and domestic,
agricultural and foundry purposes.
Lake Alexandrina
Average production:6700 tpa
Mulgundawa Investments Pty Ltd
Mulgundawa Salt began producing
salt by solar evaporation from Lake
Alexandrina in the late 1800s from
a groundwater-fed Holocene playa/
lacustrine lake for use in the processing
of animal hides. The operation has been
owned by Mulgundawa Investments
since 1995. Uses include skin and hide
salt, calf salt, water softener and pool
salt.
Reference
Valentine JT 1989. Industrial and non
metallic minerals operations in South
Australia, Report Book 89/74. South
Australia Department of Mines and
Energy, Adelaide.
For further information on the Dry Creek
land development proposal see the Ridley
Corporation website <www.ridley.com.au>.