Ormiston Mining and Smelting

Ormiston Mine is the location that brought us together. The first location we ever explored together, and we had no idea this would be the start of a friendship that would continue decades later, exploring epic locations across Canada and the United States together.  We had only talked online before we met up to visit Ormiston. Corey had been to this location before, so we carpooled with his vehicle out to the location. 

We are going to include our two different perspectives on our explorations at this site.

Corey (previously SaskUrbex):

The Ormiston Mining and Smelting facility was truly in the middle of nowhere. It was always a delightful place to visit. A dozen buildings varying from a few small houses, right up to the processing plant, which was at least a hundred thousand square feet. It had a main office full of old records, an old huge (locked) safe, and even a couple of computers lying around. It had a lab full of equipment, including a couple of glass containers of Hydrochloric Acid, and lots of glass beakers that surprisingly survived a lot of years after being abandoned. This facility fared better than most that have been abandoned for at least 13 years.

I haven’t found a lot of information on this Location. I’ve never seen anything on the web about nor have I seen anything in any books. So all information is based on what we found for records and blueprints around the plant. The oldest records I found date back to the 1920s. Blueprints showed that this facility once generated its own power and some of the original power generation equipment remained at the facility. I found several newer records and blueprints showing that they had invested some serious money into this place in 1997. However, it appears that it was too little, too late, as there is nothing here to indicate that this place was in operation at all in 1998 and beyond.

I was tipped off by another explorer moving through the area in 2005 about this place. I never made it there till 2006. Although not close to Regina, I managed to make it out there at least 6 times over 3 years, it was always a great place to explore. I directed a well-known explorer out there in October 2009, and he was the one who told me about its demolition. I heard nothing of it until then.  

Alicia (previously vanishedcompass):

I remember this location like it was yesterday. This was the first location I explored with SaskUrbex. He took me to the middle of nowhere, to an abandoned mine, without hardly knowing me. He trusted that I would respect the site and knew that it would really open my eyes to all the types of abandoned buildings around the province. (I also trusted that he wasn't going to murder me or leave me there alone as we carpooled.) I was overwhelmed by the size, and that something like this was just left - the people just didn't come into work one day. At this point, I had only photographed ghost towns and abandoned churches, I had no idea places like this existed. This soon led to more mines, brick plants, an abandoned dam, and more industrial abandonments around the province.

Not much is known about this location. This is what I do know: Ormiston Mining & Smelting was a company that mined Sodium Sulphate through solution mining from the lake beside it. It was located near the small town of Ormiston, Saskatchewan. The mine included a dredge, processing plant, outbuildings, lab, offices, and residences for some staff and the foreman.

History:

Horseshoe Lake Mining and Smelting Company, later known as the Ormiston Mining and Smelting Company, opened in 1929 and ran until 2002. It was a 24-hour 365 day operation.  For over 70 years, it employed people from Ormiston and the area. They mined Sodium Sulphate (salt) from the lake.

The site included a processing plant, outbuildings, an office, a lab, a dredge, residences for employees and the foreman, equipment including vehicles and more. It was a huge site right beside the lake, and it always looked like winter with all the salt on the ground. 

We photographed the site in 2008 and returned in 2011 to see it demolished.