The rock salt mined from Punjab the region of Pakistan is called Himalayan salt. Due to trace minerals present in it, its color is pink. It is used as a food additive to take place of refined table salt. Mining of Himalayan salt is also used for cooking purposes, for food presentation, and tthe preservation of food for a long time.
Composition
It has a high content of minerals in it. Which consists of more than 84 minerals and trace elements? It includes Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Sulphate etc.
Since this salt is being used for different purposes like cooking, skincare products, salt therapy, and other spa treatments. This is because of the exclusiveness of the crystal structure of Himalayan salt. It’s hand mining from the Khewra Himalayan salt mines.
Mining
The process of extracting useful materials from the earth is called mining. For example:
- Mining of iron
- Mining of gold
- Mining of iron ore
- Mining of salt
There are so many minerals that are mined from the earth.
Categories
The two main categories of modern mining are:
- Surface mining
- Underground mining
Surface mining
In surface mining, the ground is blasted so that ore near the surface can be removed and transported to a plant where the minerals are extracted. Surface mining can damage the surrounding landscape by leaving large open pits
Underground mining
In underground mining, the ore is extracted at depth. Miners drill tunnels into the rock to reach the ore deposits. This can lead to accidents that trap miners underground.
Mining of Himalayan salt
Himalayan salt comes from the Himalayas. Thanks to its pink color and supposed health benefits, the popularity of this salt has exploded since the late 2000s. Today, lamps, statues, and, of course, edible salt are made here. But to extract the coveted salt, you have to go down into dark caves, blast, and carry heavy rocks. We entered the mine that turns the rock into 400,000 tons of pink salt each year. The Khewra Salt Mine in the Punjab region of Pakistan is the second-largest salt mine in the world. The pink salt comes from the remains of ancient sea beds.
They crystallized 600 million years ago. Legend has it that it was Alexander the Great’s horses that discovered these salty rocks when they stopped to lick their food. Under British rule, salt mining expanded considerably in the 1870s. Today, it is a popular tourist destination and a mine that produces most of the world’s pink sands.
They produced proper tunnels inside the mine to extract valuable rock salt. Then, a mining engineer of British introduced the tunnel system inside the mine. This tunnel system is known as “Room and Pillar”. All mining begins here, at the train station. The train takes the miners deep into the mountains. The tunnel here runs for 25 miles and it’s always 64 degrees.
There are 19 stories in the mine. Out of these 11 are underground. Moreover, the temperature inside the mine remains 10 degrees Celcius to 20 degrees Celcius throughout the year. During the salt mining process, miners extract half of the mined salt in the room. The remaining serves as the room’s pillar. This helps to maintain the structural integrity of salt chambers. In this way, it ensures the safety of the mines.
Early stage
At the early stage of the mining process, the mine is actually blasted by the laborers and miners. They use explosives just to open the entrance to the mine. It is the initial phase of the process. This method is being used for hundreds of years ago. Its use is dispirited inside the mine due to its toxic pose.
Mining by hand
Inside the mines, the laborers and miners don’t use explosives. Instead of this, they do mining by hand. They do this to prevent rock salt from the toxicity produced by the exclusive. It prevents the health benefits of rock salt. By using the historic method the salt is mined by highly skilled workers. In this way, there is no production of any kind of pollution or waste. The laborers gather the huge blocks of Himalayan salt, load the containers and take them outside the mine.
After that, the containers are transported to different factories. Here the salt is mined by different techniques. In this process, the blocks of Himalayan salt are converted into different shapes.
- Fine Himalayan pink salt has a powder-like shape
- Coarse Himalayan salt has large salt crystals
- Cooking blocks of Himalayan salt used for cooking
CONCLUSION
Mining Himalayan pink salt is a very tough and slow process but it is an environment-friendly procedure. Mining of Himalayan pink salt is mostly done by hand. It does not produce any kind of pollution or toxic waste. Pakistan is the country in which Himalayan pink salt is found in abundance.
Standard salt is one of the best mining companies in Pakistan. They produce high-quality Himalayan rock salt in bulk amounts. They are one of the leading Himalayan salts:
- Salt manufacturer
- Wholesale salt supplier
- Rock salt exporter
They have their own salt mines in Khewra Pakistan. Their main Himalayan salt products are: Edible salt, Salt lamp, Candleholder, Aromatherapy, Bath salt, Lick salt etc. They transport the Himalayan pink salt to different countries of the world.
