Although he was prospecting for oil in 1866, Mr. Sam Platt’s drilling rig hit paydirt of a different kind when it struck rock salt almost 1,000 feet beneath Goderich Harbour. The claim that he was only mildly surprised at the discovery is probably correct as native peoples of the area had earlier told him of the evidence of salt deposits throughout the region. His findings became the first recorded discovery of a salt bed in North America. By year’s end, rock salt was being used as a source of brine for salt production.

Sam Platt proved to be a successful businessman when his company declared a 51 percent dividend the next year, the same year Canada became a nation.
 

1. A common sight on any grocery store shelf is the Sifto salt box; 2. The Goderich Salt Company was a household name from 1919 to 1955 when Domtar introduced Sifto

Little did he realize, moreover, that his salt discovery was near the edge of a huge geological formation called the Michigan Salt Basin. His discovery initiated a salt rush. By late 1867, 12 independent salt wells were dotting the Maitland River valley down to its confluence with Goderich Harbour and Lake Huron. Salt fever had hit the area! Sam Platt had made salt, for centuries one of the world’s most sought after commodities, synonymous with “the prettiest town in Canada.”

His 1866 discovery, furthermore, distributed the seeds for the eventual creation of a major North American company destined to become, by the 1990s, one of the world’s largest suppliers of salt.

Although dazzling-white salt from Goderich outclassed the more famous English salt by winning first prize at the 1867 Paris Exhibition, mass production of salt was not actually begun at Goderich until 1880 while the site was being operated by a chemist, George Rice. The site became known as the “Rice Block.”

The production process was simple. Rows of some 100 heavy, open, cast iron kettles of 120 to 140 gallons each, of pumped brine, were set on furnaces dependent on wood for fire. This evaporation process produced a fine flake salt which was air-dried and then shipped in barrels made by coopers who worked on the site. As wood fuel in the area was consumed the cost escalated. The process was expensive.
 

At a depth of 1,750 feet, the Sifto underworld, about one and one half miles wide, extends 2 miles into lake Huron. The ceilings of the huge beehive complex average 45 feet in height. Thick pillars give the appearance of rooms that trucks travel through to carry rock salt to crushing and screening operations before it is hoisted to the surface in customized skips.

Streamlining salt production was inevitable. Kettles were replaced by shallow steel pans 30 feet wide and 100 feet long. The final product was still coarse and the process was still expensive as imported coal for furnace heating replaced depleted wood sources.

By 1910, modernization at the Goderich solution mine turned to a vacuum pan process consisting of one vertical steel tank with internal heating tubes conducting steam. This operation produced granular salt crystals widely used for table salt. It was also cost-effective.

in 1919 the operation was purchased by banker, Charles Wurtele. The company was now called the Goderich Salt Company and under Wurtele’s direction it became the largest industry in Huron County. It attracted the attention of E.P. Taylor who took control of the company and eventually it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Domtar limited. The name Sifto was introduced in 1955.

Only since the late 1950s has salt actually been mined in the Goderich area. When it became apparent that rock salt was in a growth market, Sifto took action. A mining shaft was commenced in 1957 and com-pleted in 1959. To meet the needs of municipalities requiring crushed rock salt for winter roads, in addition to domestic need for rock salt for water softeners, a second shaft became operational in 1968. A further increase in production was achieved when a third shaft was added in 1983. Today the mine complex employs more than 300 workers.

In 1990, Domtar’s Canadian salt-producing operations were sold to North American Salt Company of Kansas. At present, Sifto Canada employs over 500 workers. In addition to its Goderich facilities, it operates Saskatchewan’s Unity plant employing 80 workers. Its high-grade products service markets from northwestern Ontario to the Pacific coast. Sifto’s production process in eastern Canada is at the Amherst, Nova Scotia plant employing 70 workers. Its vapour recompression process produces an unequalled salt purity in North America.

According to Mark Demetree, President of North American Salt Company, Sifto Canada’s success is the result of a unique employee diversity where “everyone is working together for a common purpose.”