Malagash Salt Miners' Museum
Malagash, Nova Scotia

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The First Rock Salt Mine in Canada

 

 

LOADING

The salt is loaded by hand into small cars holding 1,500 lbs., pushed by hand and dumped into a skip operating on an incline connecting 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. levels. The skip dumps automatically into a pocket above the 130' level. This pocket feeds into a 3 ton car, which is pushed by 3 men to the shaft pocket. (This operation will be carried on by electric locomotive, already on site)

The shaft man fills the main shaft skip, capacity 1.5 tons, from shaft pocket. Each hoist takes a 30 H.P. motor, there being a spare motor available for each hoist.

SHAFT

The present shaft is divided. into 3 compartments, one of which is used for hoisting and, the second available for an additional hoist. The third compartment is an air, emergency ladder, pipe line and cable route, etc. The shaft is 4' x 12' made up from tongue and groove 3" spruce boards, white lead jointed. The air compartment is separated from the hoisting compartments by l ½" tongue ant groove boards. The three compartments are braced internally by 6" x 6" timber and bark filled with clay, and the entire casing supported on a concrete base ring resting right on the salt deposit. There is very little water in the shaft and none in the mine. A 2 ½ H.P D.C. motor connected to a Fairbanks Typhoon duplex reciprocating pump, is placed at bottom of sump and operated only one or two times a week.

VENTILATION

The present system of ventilation is obtained by a Sturdevant exhaust fan, approximately 13,000 cu. ft. per minute, belt driven by the mill line shaft. This fan is the primary ventilator and takes care of all the workings with the exception of the forced draft booster fan connecting and placed between the 180' and 230' levels. In addition to these two fans there are three portable, motor driven 5 H.P. blowers, used with Ventube. This latter is a canvas air flue 8" diameter and used for ventilating the working faces.

An appropriation has been obtained in which is included a figure of $3,500.00 to provide a new air shaft in order to further improve the ventilation and provide an exit from the mine in event of emergency.

 

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