It’s one of the world’s cheapest minerals, but so far in this snow-struck winter season, the city has spent close to $16 million on salt.

The Sanitation Department has spread 266,724 tons of the white stuff on roadways to combat the other white stuff that’s turning New York City into a downstate version of Buffalo. At $59.90 a ton, the bill has come to $15.9 million.

The record, achieved in 2000-01, was 404,247 tons.