The salt here is enough for China to eat for 4000 years. I'm digging salt in Cha'erhan
The largest salt lake in our country is called Chaerhan Salt Lake.
Cha'erhan is Mongolian, meaning "Salt Ze" or "Salt World". Cha'erhan Salt Lake is located in the southern part of the Qaidam Basin, one of the three major inland basins in China. It is composed of four salt lakes: Dabson Lake, South Hobson Lake, North Hobson Lake, and Senier Lake, with a total area of 5856 square kilometers.
As the second largest salt lake in the world and the king of salt lakes in Asia, Cha'erhan Salt Lake has extremely abundant salt reserves, with a total edible salt reserves of 55.5 billion tons. It can be fully extracted and consumed by the world for 2000 years, and by China for 4000 years.
On the morning of August 30th, Jiupai News contacted Mr. Zhao, a worker engaged in salt mining at the Cha'erhan Salt Lake. The following is his account.
【1】 Each excavator can produce 6000 tons of salt per day shift
I am a native of Qinghai. I started using amphibious excavators in Chaerhan Salt Lake in 2015, and it is now my eighth year.
Before coming to Cha'erhan Salt Lake, I was also operating an excavator, but my job was not very stable and I didn't have a long-term job. Later, I came to the salt lake to dig salt through a friend's introduction.
Here, workers for salt mining and transportation are recruited by qualified outsourcing companies. Among the colleagues who work together, Qinghai locals and outsiders account for about half each, with some coming from Gansu, Shandong, Anhui, Sichuan and other places.
The Cha'erhan Salt Lake mainly mines industrial salt and also produces some edible salt. The Golmud Salt Factory specializes in producing edible salt transported from the Cha'erhan Salt Lake. The mining of salt lakes is mainly divided into two categories: water mining and dry mining. Water mining uses large salt mining ships, while dry mining is mainly carried out through construction machinery. We belong to dry mining.
We first drive an amphibious excavator to the salt lake for drainage and trenching, extract the salt, discharge excess water, and pile it up into a "salt mountain" that is about 100 meters long, 20 meters wide, and 5 meters high. This process is called "picking fish bones". After all the preliminary preparations are ready, the "fish bones" can be dried and transported to the factory using large machinery for the next stage of production.
Mr. Zhao is digging "fish bones" in the Cha'erhan Salt Lake. Under normal circumstances, there will be more than ten excavators, more than fifty salt dump trucks, and four loaders working simultaneously in the salt lake. They will be transported in two shifts, 24 hours a day without interruption, and it will take about five days to excavate a "fish bone".
Although it is impossible to estimate how much salt a "fish bone" contains, under normal circumstances, each excavator can hold approximately 90 trucks of salt per day shift, with each truck containing around 31 cubic meters of salt. Overall, it can dig approximately 3000 cubic meters of salt.
【2】 "High reflexes", "snow blindness", only experienced hands can go to deep water areas
Cha'erhan Salt Lake is located at an altitude of about 3300 meters. Many colleagues from other places are not used to it when they first arrive. They experience hypoxia at night, altitude sickness, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, and swelling of the brain, and always have difficulty sleeping well. However, drinking more water and taking some medicine usually takes a week to gradually adapt.
What is difficult to adapt to here is the climate, which is cold in winter and hot in summer, with sandstorms in spring and less rain in summer. The ultraviolet rays are particularly strong and dry, making it easy to catch fire and peel. The environment is also particularly desolate, it is difficult to see a tree or a blade of grass, and apart from saline alkali land, there are endless salt fields.
Mr. Zhao's working environment while digging salt in Cha'erhan Salt Lake. The excavated salt has no pungent taste and is not harmful to health, so no additional protective measures need to be taken. But we have to wear sunglasses when we go to work because the salt we dig out is very white and very harsh under the sunlight. Just like when exploring in the Arctic or Antarctic, one must wear sunglasses when facing completely white snow, otherwise it may cause dizziness or snow blindness.
The depth of Cha'erhan Salt Lake is generally less than three meters, but the lake water density and buoyancy are also high. As long as the depth exceeds 1.5 meters, excavators can float in the lake. So, just in case, only experienced workers who have worked for more than a year are allowed to work in deep water areas. The deepest water level I have ever been to is around six or seven meters, which is a channel specifically dug for the circulation of salt lake brine.
In fact, there is a more critical situation. When the excavator is completely floating, if the rotation amplitude is too large, it may overturn. And rollover often occurs when the excavator is facing upwards, and once this happens, there are basically no people left.
At first, I wasn't used to driving amphibious excavators in salt lakes, and I often felt dizzy and nauseous while working. After working for two to three months, I gradually adapted to this feeling. Even if I were to drive the excavator into the deep water area now, there was no discomfort, and I can still hold on.
The most exhausting time for me is when I have to pick fish bones. If a salt lake has water and can still move, the most frightening thing is that after the water is drained, the salt lake is like entering a swamp, and walking is too difficult and can only be moved little by little.
A colleague's excavator once sank into a salt lake, even the driver's cab was soaked in salt. In fact, we often encounter situations where we can only drive an excavator to dig up the surrounding salt and create a walking path when we can't walk.
【3】 Someone comes and goes, and I will continue to dig for salt
We work in two shifts, with the day shift from 7am to 6pm, and one hour of lunch and rest time at noon every day. The night shift is the opposite. There are no specific regulations regarding shift work, and drivers generally choose according to their own preferences. They usually change shifts every two weeks. I am now accustomed to this work mode, and for me, the workload is not very high.
Due to the strong corrosiveness of salt, excavator circuits are often prone to malfunctions. Every morning during the shift handover, we need to perform basic maintenance for the excavator for more than ten minutes. We use a grease gun to inject butter into the key positions of the excavator, thereby increasing the wear resistance and lubrication of the machinery.
We usually don't take weekends or holidays off, so we have to take leave on our own without any benefits. However, the company provides free meals and accommodations, and the dormitory is for four people with relatively complete equipment and facilities. It is not too far from the salt lake, and the food is also quite good.
Cha'erhan Salt Lake is about 900 kilometers away from my hometown. If there is nothing important at home, I usually go back every six months. During the Chinese New Year, I take a month off to go home. Actually, my family also opposes me working in a place so far from home, but there is no job in a place with a home, and there is no home in a place with a job. Although helpless, in order to make a living, one can only make choices.
I repeat the work of drainage, digging ditches, and digging salt every day, day after day, year after year, which is both hard and boring. Over the past eight years, many people have come and gone, some because of their families and some because of their health, but most of them are still like me, seeking stability and continuing to work here.
I still like this job. At present, I will continue to dig salt in the salt lake, but I will definitely go back to my hometown to settle down in the future.
