In the small town of Heringen, Eastern Germany, there sits a slightly stupendous slump of salt sifted from sands of several sustained spans of soil scooping. Alright, enough of that. 

Monte Kali is one of the most peculiar mountains in the entire world. It is essentially just a pile of mining waste, but it's chemical makeup and sheer volume make it one of a kind. For over 100 years, since 1903, mining companies have been mining potash in the region. Today, the mine in Heringen is the largest potash mine in the world.

Potash mining produces a significant amount of sodium chloride as a byproduct, known as table salt. For every ton of potash recovered in the mine, there are several tons of sodium chloride produced. This creates a major waste problem.

Since 1976, the K+S Chemical Company has been dealing with the seemingly harmless salt wast from their mines in the area by dumping it at a location now known as Monte Kali. 42 years of dumping table salt in the same spot has resulted in the mound of salt now covering 240 acres coming in at a weight of 221 million tons. That's the equivalent of 442 Burj Khalifas.

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Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license ([ Ссылка ])
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