Sink works or sinkworks (from German ''Sinkwerke'') is a method of salt mining from salt deposits in mountainous areas. It is similar to

brine well A salt well (or brine well) is used to mine salt from caverns or deposits. Water is used as a solution to dissolve the salt or halite deposits so that they can be extracted by pipe to an evaporation process, which results in a brine or dry produc ...

s in that salt was extracted by dissolving it in water. Both approaches simulate natural

brine spring A brine spring or salt spring is a saltwater spring. Brine springs are not necessarily associated with halite deposits in the immediate vicinity. They may occur at valley bottoms made of clay and gravel which became soggy with brine seeped downsl ...

s. It is one of the earliest methods of salt extraction from

salt dome A salt dome is a type of structural dome formed when salt (or other evaporite minerals) intrudes into overlying rocks in a process known as diapirism. Salt domes can have unique surface and subsurface structures, and they can be discovered usin ...

s. A ''sinkwerk'' is a chamber in a salt mine filled with water to dissolve salt. The resulting brine is then pumped via

brine pipeline A brine pipeline is a pipeline to transport brine. It is a common way to transport salt from salt mines, salt wells and sink works to the places of salt evaporation ( salterns, salt pans). Brine pipelines are also used in the oil and gas ind ...

s to

saltworks A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...

This approach is commonly used when salt deposits are heavily contaminated (or, alternatively, when salt content in the deposit is low), so that mining of

rock salt Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...

is not feasible. This method is common in most salt mines in Alps, where the saltrock-mudrock-tectonite known as ''

Haselgebirge Haselgebirge is a mylonite composed of mineral clay, sandstone, anhydrite, rock salt is and other salts.

'' is widespread, with average

halite Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, p ...

content of 30-65%."Structure and evolution of a rocksalt-mudrock-tectonite: The haselgebirge in the Northern Calcareous Alps"
''Journal of Structural Geology''. In industrial cases, a complex structure of underground chambers interconnected by tunnels is created.

References

Mining techniques Salt production {{Mining-stub