The natural gas mining process is a complex one that requires brine ponds. During the mining process, natural gas is easiest to store in liquid form, so when mining companies extract it, they often pump it into caverns—although sometimes drained mines or reservoirs can be used. However, naturally occurring salt caverns are the most popular option where available because these caverns are less porous than other types of caverns—and that prevents the loss of natural gas through drainage.
Brine ponds are used during the initial phases of the process as storage reservoirs for the water found naturally in existing salt caverns, which is usually a heavily concentrated brine. In addition, mining companies will often flush water through emptied salt caverns to dissolve the salt, thus making more room to store natural gas. This water is stored in brine ponds where it can be reused later on to pressurize salt caverns full of natural gas in order to retrieve the gas from the caverns.
