North America’s First Salt Mine in 30 Years is Offering a $36.12 Billion Investment Opportunity

North America’s First Salt Mine in 30 Years is Offering a $36.12 Billion Investment Opportunity

It’s been nearly 30 years since a new salt mine has been built in North America.

Meanwhile, domestic production is shrinking.

Not helping, Cargill’s history Avery Island mine shut down, removing about 2.5 million tonnes a year of road salt from the market.

And reportedly, other older mines could follow suit.

As a result, North America has been forced to import about 10 million tonnes of road salt every year, accounting for 30% of total demand – with most of that supply coming from Egypt, Chile and Mexico with sky-high delivery costs.

All of which is creating a significant supply crunch with winter demand just starting to explode.

However, North America May Have Uncovered “The Perfect Salt Project”

Referred to as “the perfect salt project,” Atlas Salt’s (TSXV: SALT) (OTCQX: SALQF) Great Atlantic Salt Project in Newfoundland, Canada represents the potential for the first new North American salt mine in nearly three decades.

With 95 million tonnes of reserves, 95.9% purity and 868 million tonnes of inferred resources, the Great Atlantic Salt Project is one of the largest and purest undeveloped salt deposits in North America.

The deposit averages 200 meters thick across 3 kilometers. Location is equally perfect as it sits 2 kilometers from a deepwater port, adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway, and 1.4 kilometers from government-regulated hydroelectric power. And, while foreign competitors take 14 to 21 days or more to ship from overseas sources, Atlas Salt offers the ability to deliver clean, Canadian-made salt to Boston, New York or Philadelphia in 3 days.

We should also note that with an approved environmental assessment and early permits in hand, it’s shovel-ready and positioned to supply North America’s $3 billion-a-year de-icing market with clean, low-cost, Canadian-made salt.

Atlas Salt Could be North America’s Lowest Cost Producer

At a cost of $34.90 per tonne all-in, Atlas Salt is poised to operate in the bottom quintile of producers worldwide.

Legacy competitors are stuck at costs ranging from $60 to 100+ per tonne thanks to aging infrastructure, soaring energy costs, and hidden legacy environmental issues arising from mines built in a different era.

Even better, Atlas Salt’s edge is structural: an enclosed modern conveyor eliminates trucks and fuel, hydroelectric power keeps rates stable, battery-electric gear cuts diesel and emissions to zero, and shallow access means no shaft mining is required.

Competitors can’t retrofit their projects without building entirely new mines, which is exactly what Atlas Salt is doing. With a $40 to 50/tonne margin advantage, Atlas Salt would remain profitable as competitors would shutter before they did in any pricing environment.

Supply-Demand issues could create a $36.12 billion opportunity by 2032

The global salt market (across all applications) was approximately $25.98 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $36.12 billion by 2032.

You see, every winter, millions of tonnes of de-icing road salt are spread across highways and city streets to keep traffic moving, but few realize how fragile that supply chain has become.

Domestic production is declining as North American mines that were built decades ago reach the end of their lives as profitable operations.

Operating costs are climbing, environmental liabilities are mounting, and replacement projects are non-existent, Atlas Salt is the only one. Industry analysts now warn that North America is heading into a structural shortage of road salt.

And yet, despite its key advantages, Atlas Salt is severely undervalued.

Trading with a market cap of about $75 million – which is an 88% valuation discount to the proven economics of a de-risked, construction-ready project. In addition, we also have to consider that Atlas Salt offers investors a rare combination of certainty, scarcity and scale and appears poised for a significant potential increase in valuation as it moves into development.

Also, when you compare Atlas Salt’s valuation to peers, such as Compass Minerals, something doesn’t add up very well. Once in full scale production, Atlas has approximately $325M annual EBITDA, $34.90/tonne AISC, 24.3-year mine life, brand new infrastructure, minimal carbon footprint.

Meanwhile, Compass has about $300 million to $320 million EBITDA, higher costs, aging operations, declining reserves, diesel-dependent.

Digging into this a bit deeper, Atlas Salt has the potential to generate similar or better cash flow from a lower-cost, longer-life, newer mine.

Yet it trades at just $75 million while Compass trades at $2.5 billion.

In short, the upside potential for Atlas Salt (TSXV: SALT) (OTCQX: SALQF) is significant.