Dingyuan County Dongxing Salt Mine ()

The Dingyuan County Salt Mine is located in Dongxingji, 17 kilometers west-southwest of Dingyuan County. The mining area is connected to the county by highways leading to various places, and the transportation is relatively convenient.

Dingyuan County was established by Cao Shizong, the general Dingyuan of the Liang Dynasty, after he defeated the Wei Dynasty. Opening the county annals, there is no record of mining of mineral materials. In August 1988, a majestic Yancheng was built near Dongxing Jilancaowu Village, 17 kilometers west-southwest of Dingyuan County, opening a new page in the history of mineral resources development in Dingyuan County.

The Dingyuan Salt Mine was discovered on December 12, 1971. The ore body occurs in the sand shale of the Dingyuan Formation of the Old Tertiary System. On the plan view, the ore body is like a pod arranged in the east-west direction, about 8500 meters long and 400-2390 meters wide. The thickness varies greatly, with the center thickness reaching 198.40 meters and gradually pinching out towards the surroundings; the longitudinal section is like an iron pod with a flat top and a convex bottom. Pot shape. Rock salt reserves are more than 1.7 billion tons (including 1.24 billion tons of sodium chloride).

The recorded geological survey in this area began in 1960, including the Petroleum Brigade and Team 345 of the Provincial Geological Bureau, the 505 Team of the East China Infrastructure Bureau, the 120 Exploration Team of the Anhui Provincial Coal Department, etc. Search the area for oil, gypsum and coal. These geological surveys, especially the discovery and exploration results of gypsum mines, provide important clues for carrying out salt mine surveys in the area. To this end, in 1964, in order to find salt deposits that were urgently needed in the country, the Provincial Geological Bureau's comprehensive research team formed a special salt-finding team headed by Lu Yanbang. They studied the clues to find salt in the Dingyuan gypsum mining area and wrote a report. First draft; later, due to the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", the comprehensive research team was abolished and technical personnel were transferred to lower levels, so the work could not be continued.

In 1970, a large salt mine was found in Jiangxi, and Chairman Mao Zedong gave important instructions, which greatly inspired the people, especially the majority of geologists. Li Desheng, then director of the Anhui Provincial Revolutionary Committee, learned about the discovery of a large salt mine in Jiangxi. He met Cheng Shiqing, director of the Jiangxi Provincial Revolutionary Committee, in Beijing and discussed the situation of finding salt in Jiangxi. After returning, he immediately went to the Provincial Metallurgical Geology Bureau to inquire about Anhui Is it possible to find salt as well. In March of the same year, under the instructions of the Provincial Party Committee and the Geological Bureau of the State Planning Commission, the then Provincial Metallurgical Geology Bureau (Gong Shuilin, deputy leader of the Bureau’s leadership group was responsible for geological work, and Tang Yong became the technical person in charge of non-ferrous and non-metallic materials) reported to the Third Team 25 issued a mission to find salt. After Gu Yuanling and Wang Cuilian informed Wu Fengzhou, head of geological technology of Team 325, of this situation, the team immediately organized personnel to collect data and compile a design. Based on the fact that Dingyuan Basin contains rich gypsum deposits, it was determined that Dingyuan Basin was the first A goal to find salt.

Wu Fengzhou and others, who accepted the task of looking for salt in the autumn of 1970, immediately carried out field work. While conducting mineral prospecting using hydrochemical methods, they also mobilized the masses to report mineral deposits. At that time, counties, communes and brigades used cable broadcasts and various meetings to carry out propaganda and launched a people's war to find salt. In just a few months, they surveyed an area of ??more than 400 square kilometers and thousands of civilian wells and springs. After discovering that there was an artesian water well with high salinity in Chengqiao, at Wu Fengzhou’s suggestion and after review and approval by the leaders of the Provincial Bureau of Metallurgical Geology, the first salt-seeking borehole was set near the artesian well. . It was late September, and the Provincial Bureau of Metallurgical Geology asked Team 325 to transport three drilling rigs from Huaibei, nearly a thousand miles away, to Chengqiao within four or five days. Wu Huanyi, director of the Revolutionary Committee of the team, personally organized and moved with the truck. The car could not drive into the construction site, so people carried it on their shoulders. Carrying forward Wang Jinxi's iron man spirit, he fought hard for three days and nights in the wind and rain, and started drilling on October 1, 1970, National Day.

In order to strengthen leadership, the Salt Mine Headquarters was established in November of the same year after the Bureau of Metallurgical Geology submitted it to the Provincial Revolutionary Committee for approval. Wei Bin, the leader of the provincial working group stationed in the county, serves as the commander. The deputy commanders are Gong Shuilin, Tang Yongcheng, Zhang Hejiang, Zhu Yonghua, and Liu Fukao. The county committee appoints two people to assist, and Zhang Hejiang presides over the daily leadership work. In addition, because Team 325 was too far away from Dingyuan, it was decided that all personnel looking for salt would be transferred to Team 323 (i.e., the First Hydrological Team of the Anhui Provincial Geological Bureau). The mineral geological exploration department was later separated from this team to form the Anhui Province The leader of the 312 Geological Team of the Geological Bureau (now referred to as the 312 Team of the Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources).

After studying the physical and geochemical prospecting data in the area, the Yanyan Group first arranged the Rock 01, Rock 02 and Rock 03 holes in the center of the basin delineated along the gravity map. The workers carefully operated and used technical skills. The personnel carefully observed the core and measured chloride ions (the salinity of the water), all waiting for the moment of salt discovery. However, no mineral was found in the three holes. At this time, some comrades became anxious. For this reason, in early May 1971, Gong Shuilin hosted a symposium with the leaders of the 323rd and 325th teams and relevant technical personnel in Dingyuan County. There was a heated debate at the meeting. In the end, it was agreed that further analysis and research on existing data was needed, geological surveys should be strengthened, geophysical prospecting work should be resumed, and it was decided to send people to Jiangxi salt mines and other places to learn and learn from experience.

In June 1971, after the people who were sent to study abroad came back and reported on the salt-finding experience of Team 909 of the Jiangxi Provincial Geological Bureau, Gong Shuilin, deputy director of the Provincial Bureau of Metallurgical Geology and deputy commander of the Salt Mine Headquarters, Immediately deploy the geophysical company of the 312th Team (Taihu Lake) to Dingyuan and deploy additional personnel to establish a comprehensive research team (the team leader is Fu Guangkai).

The geophysical prospecting company of the 312nd Team started field work in the area to search for salt in August. They first conducted electrical soundings next to known boreholes and compared them with the electrical soundings of Jiangxi salt mines. Curve, analyze the 1:100,000 and 1:200,000 electrical sounding curves made by the former Provincial Coal Department and East China Petroleum Exploration Bureau. At that time, Yu Liangbi, the technical leader of the geophysical prospecting company, first carefully analyzed the original data. After studying more than 700 curves one by one, he finally discovered that one of the 522 electrical sounding curves made by the former coal department (this point (located near Lancaowu in the northwest of Dongxingji) is very similar to the Jiangxi salt mine curve, and the opinion is put forward that it can be verified by hole layout. The discovery of this anomaly and the determination of the hole location kicked off the discovery of the Dingyuan Salt Mine.

Almost at the same time, the geological group discovered a thick gray rock layer containing gypsum and mirabilite from Hole 05. The group proposed to the geophysical exploration team to trace the direction in which the gray layer changed with Hole 05 as the center. thick.

The geophysical prospecting company decided to lay out three more electrical sounding profiles (12, 11, and 10) in order to verify the abnormal curves of the Rotten Thatched House, and found a series of HKH curves similar to those in the Jiangxi salt mines. At that time, Hole 05 was about to be completed. Wu Fengzhou asked Yu Liangbi for his opinion on arranging the next hole. Yu suggested that point 185 on line 11 could be used as the hole location for Hole 06, and predicted that the high-resistance body would be 200 meters thick and the bottom boundary would be 400 meters deep.

Hole 06 (i.e. Hole 901) was drilled on November 25, 1971. After drilling to a depth of 395.36 meters, rock salt as white as snow was finally seen. It was an exciting day, and everyone present tasted it with their mouths, tasting the bitter and salty taste like sweat flowing out.

That day was February 12, 1972.

After another 2 years and 4 months of evaluation and exploration, the field work ended in March 1974.

The exploration report for the eastern section was submitted in December 1973. The report writers are Wu Fengzhou, Li Zhenjiang, Zhang Weihong, Peng Wanfen, Luo Mingguang, Sang Xianyao, Li Zhanyang, Wang Hanbo, Li Changliang and Dai Guomo.

The exploration report for the western section was submitted in December 1975. The report writers are Wu Fengzhou, Zhang Weihong, Li Zhanyang, Wang Hanbo, Dai Guomo, Li Changliang, and Wang Daqiang, and the exploration geology team leader of the western section is Lin Pigang.

The director of the Revolutionary Committee of Team 323 is Zhu Yonghua, and the deputy director is Zhang Hejiang (also the deputy commander of the salt mine).

The geological leaders of Team 323 are Shi Renyi and Shen Yisan. The team leaders are Cao Xide and Li Bingjin.

There are many workers, geologists and other personnel working here who have devoted their efforts and sweat to find the Dingyuan Salt Mine. We should pay high respect to them!

Looking back at this period of salt-hunting history, we can summarize some lessons worth learning from:

1. The discovery of the Dingyuan Salt Mine was closely related to the political and economic situation at that time. Chairman Mao's instructions after the discovery of salt mines in Jiangxi and the policy of "preparing for war, preparing for famine, and serving the people" were a factor that prompted the search for salt mines in Anhui. At that time, the provincial party committee leaders Li Desheng, Lou Xuezheng, and Yang Xiaochun all personally participated in the work of finding salt. Leaders at all levels in Dingyuan County regard finding salt as a political task.

2. The leaders of the Provincial Bureau of Metallurgical Geology did not hesitate to retreat at the critical moment. The symposium in May 1971 was a very important meeting. At that time, when there were no mines in several holes, the commander only had to make a suggestive movement to retreat, which would lead to the collapse of the entire line.

3. "Stones from other mountains can attack jade." Going to Jiangxi Salt Mine to study played a key role. Before studying, I always thought that rock salt was a high-resistivity (40-50Ω·m) layer compared to mudstone and siltstone, and I focused on finding the high-resistance zone in the basin. In fact, the outer layer of the salt ore has become a layer due to the dissolution of groundwater. The state of chlorine and sodium permeates the roof, floor and surrounding rocks, forming a low-resistance surrounding circle; just like the yolk of an egg, surrounded by a ring of egg white, it is a low-resistance band on the profile and a low-resistance band on the electrical sounding profile. There is a small high resistance (HKH type) in the low resistance. So targeting the high-resistivity zone in the basin is the opposite! After going to Jiangxi for research, the target turned to the low-resistance zone in the red basin, and the secret of the Dingyuan Salt Mine was quickly revealed. Two people need to be mentioned here for their indispensable contributions: one is Wu Fengzhou. When he went to Jiangxi to study for the second time, he made a special trip to the Zhangshu Geophysical Exploration Team to collect geophysical data on the Zhoutian Salt Field. Later facts proved that this data was very valuable; The second is Yu Liangbi. He contacted the geophysical prospecting data of the Dingyuan Basin and analyzed the essential characteristics of the electric sounding anomalies in the salt field. He came to a consistent subjective and objective understanding. The accuracy of the prediction of the Yan 06 salt layer is quite high.

In addition, the comprehensive research team referred to past results and the latest data to conduct research and analysis on some key issues in the search for salt, established the stratigraphic sequence of continental sedimentary rocks in the northern Hefei Basin, and determined the Tertiary Dingyuan Formation ( Liangyuan Formation), in order to find the target layer for salt, Dingyuan, Liangyuan, Cuozhen, and Taoxi were identified as four promising salt-forming basins. These results undoubtedly promoted the work of finding salt.

The first phase of the Dingyuan Salt Mine development project started in August 1988. On April 11, 1990, a trial run was carried out to produce salt. More than 40,000 tons of salt were produced that year. In 1991, it produced 82,000 tons of salt, with an output value of 28.09 million yuan, and a profit and tax of 4.5 million yuan, making it the first of the "Four Diamonds" in Dingyuan County with profits and taxes exceeding 10,000 yuan. The second phase of the project was approved by the State Planning Commission in April 1992 and completed in 1994. By then, the first and second phases combined will have an annual output of 300,000 tons of refined salt, an output value of over 100 million yuan, and a profit and tax of more than 40 million yuan. It will become one of the top ten enterprises in Chu County. List. In addition, coupled with the number of related enterprises that have been driven, Dingyuan Salt Mine has actually become the leader in driving the county's take-off.

I would also like to add that the geological team also made new contributions in the development of Dingyuan Salt Mine. The 312 Team drilled 13 high-quality salt wells for the first phase of the project.

At that time, there were already many high-rise buildings near the barren and desolate rotten thatched house, with rumbling machines and mountains of snow-like refined salt, ready to be transported. Drink water and remember its source. In the early 1970s, the efforts of hundreds of geological warriors brought prosperity and happiness to the people.

In Yancheng, there is an 80-meter-high smoke window of a thermal power station that reaches into the sky. It is like a monument telling people about the great achievements of geologists back then.