How to make saltpeter from potash
- how saltpeter is made
- how is saltpeter made today
- what is saltpeter made out of
- what is saltpeter made up of
Saltpeter mining
Saltpetre uses!
From Dirt to Gunpowder
Saltpetre Mining in Mammoth Cave
Thousands of years of occupation by bats who deposited guano in the soil of Mammoth Cave and other area caves made the cave dirt rich with a compound called calcium nitrate.
Calcium nitrate is a mineral that can be mixed with other high potassium materials to create potassium nitrate, or saltpetre, as it is more commonly known. Saltpetre is an principal ingredient in black gunpowder.
How to make saltpeter from ashMining saltpetre from the cave was extremely profitable in the early 1800’s, and became even more so with the start of the War of 1812. Demand for gunpowder was at an all-time high during the war, as the importation of gunpowder had become very difficult due to the British blockade of many eastern sea ports.
The mining process involved extracting the calcium nitrate using water and large square vats to filter the cave dirt.
A solution of water and calcium nitrate would then be pumped to the surface where it was combined with materials such as wood ash, and sometimes even ox blood, to create the saltpetre.
Saltpetre mining was not easy wor
- how is saltpeter originally made
- how did they make saltpeter