A major producer is the Gulf Coast area of Texas and Louisiana. There the sulfur occurs as part of the cap rock of salt domes, huge pillars of salt that have risen from the depths like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. Where the sulfur is near the surface, it can be mined by conventional techniques. In other areas, it is obtained by the Frasch process. In this method, a well is drilled to the sulfur deposit and three nested pipes are installed.
Hot water is pumped down the outer pipe and melts the sulfur.
Compressed air is forced down the inner pipe, which forces the now-liquid sulfur up the middle pipe to the surface.