Information from Swiss Saltworks about its plans to secure future salt extraction in the canton of Aargau
Pratteln, 13 February 2020: A significant proportion of Swiss salt comes from the lower Frick Valley. To secure Switzerland’s long-term salt supply, Swiss Saltworks is planning to develop a new drilling field to the west of Wallbach in the canton of Aargau. Construction will begin in 2022 at the earliest. Today, the brine for the Riburg saltworks comes from the Bäumlihof area, south-west of Möhlin.
Salt has been produced in the Frick Valley for more than 175 years. This area will also play a crucial role in the future: it is the home of major salt deposits which will be able to provide Switzerland securely and sustainably with this valuable natural resource for decades to come.
To secure the Swiss cantons’ mandate to supply salt, Swiss Saltworks is planning to develop a new drilling field to the west of Wallbach in the canton of Aargau. Brine is to be extracted underground beneath the area designated as the “Nordfeld” (“North Field”) from around 2026 onwards. Today, the brine for the Riburg saltworks comes from the Bäumlihof area, south-west of Möhlin. According to current forecasts, this region will continue to provide salt up the year 2027.
Plans are also in place for a 5.5-kilometre transport pipe to carry the brine from the Nordfeld to the Riburg saltworks. The construction of the transport pipe and development of the Nordfeld are planned to start in 2022 at the earliest.
At an information event today, Swiss Saltworks presented the Nordfeld project to the affected landowners, public agencies, local nature conservation organisations and media. A neighbourhood newsletter with information about the product will also be distributed to all households in Möhlin, Rheinfelden, Wallbach and Zeiningen in the next few days.
Regional salt extraction to supply the whole of Switzerland
Since 2009, Swiss Saltworks has been producing brine for the Riburg saltworks in Aargau in the Bäumlihof area, south-west of Möhlin. According to current forecasts, this area, together with the other saltworks in Schweizerhalle and Bex, will continue to deliver enough salt to supply all Swiss cantons, municipalities, companies and consumers up to the year 2027. To ensure the supply of salt after 2027, Swiss Saltworks will depend on brine extraction under the Nordfeld. This brine will make a crucial contribution to the sustainable supply of domestic salt to Switzerland for a further 20 to 30 years. According to our present knowledge, there is a salt deposit of around 7.6 million tonnes under the Nordfeld. Other extraction sites which will ensure salt production at the Riburg saltworks up to 2075 are in the early planning stage.
Talks with landowners and nature conservation associations
Underground salt extraction in the Nordfeld, which is currently in agricultural use, is in the planning stages. Swiss Saltworks is in contact with the municipal representatives, the affected landowners and tenants and the local nature conservation associations. The company has pledged to exercise the greatest possible consideration for the needs of people and nature when building the transport pipes and carrying out the essential deep drilling. As the current Bäumlihof field demonstrates, salt extraction is carried out underground and noiselessly. In the Nordfeld as at other sites, the area used for brine extraction will remain accessible to everyone and will retain its character as a fertile cultivated landscape and living natural area.
Further planning steps
The Nordfeld is in the salt extraction concession area of the canton of Aargau. Since the concession expires in 2025, the State Council therefore has to decide on an extension in advance. Adjustments to the cantonal structure plan and utilisation plan are also required.
In addition to previous geological surveys, Swiss Saltworks will conduct seismic measurements in the lower Frick Valley in the autumn of 2020. Two exploratory boreholes are planned after that, at locations which have yet to be decided. The findings obtained are essential in order to work out the detailed project schedule and the planning applications for the Nordfeld.
An important component of the planning application is an environmental impact report, which will be drawn up by an external engineering company and reviewed by the canton. The entire licensing procedure generally takes around two years. Swiss Saltworks will therefore not be able to start the construction work for the brine transport pipe and the development of the Nordfeld with a pumping station and salt boreholes until 2022 at the earliest.
Current information for the neighbouring population
Swiss Saltworks and the Riburg site consider transparent communication with the surrounding municipalities and their residents very important. Households in the municipalities of Möhlin, Rheinfelden, Wallbach and Zeiningen will receive information about the Nordfeld project by newsletter within the next few days. Swiss Saltworks will also publish news about ongoing projects, details of public events and current information about salt extraction and production in the three saltworks in Switzerland on its new neighbourhood blog www.saline.ch.
The active drilling field Bäumlihof will continue to supply brine until 2027. Swiss Saltworks is therefore planning to develop a new drilling field to the west of Wallbach (orange). From around 2026 onwards, the brine extracted there will be carried to the Riburg saltworks via a new transport pipe (purple).
About Swiss Saltworks AG
Swiss Saltworks employs 200 people and produces up to 600.000 tonnes of salt a year at its Riburg, Schweizerhalle and Bex sites. It ensures the domestic supply of salt of all kinds even to the most remote corners of Switzerland by production, storage and trade.
Media contact
Nicole Riethmüller, Head of HR and Communication
T +41 61 825 51 03, nicole.riethmueller@saline.ch
Schweizer Salinen AG, Schweizerhalle, Rheinstrasse 52, Post office box, CH-4133 Pratteln 1
T +41 61 825 51 51, F +41 61 825 51 10, www.saline.ch, www.salz.ch, www.taufix.ch
