PINK HIMALAYAN ROCK SALT
SOURCE, HEALTH & TRADE VALUE-KHEWRA MINES PAKISTAN
Salts are used throughout the world to enhance the flavor and nutritious value of the food. It is also used for preserving things, dyeing, bleaching, and in chemical industries. The very old use of salt is as a healing agent in spas and healing centers is very popular even in the modern world. The main salt types are sea salt, table salt, and rock salt or Pink Himalayan Salt. All types of salts are mainly comprised of sodium chloride, NaCl. Regular table salt is mined from salt deposits that are present underground. Regular table salt also has some combined minerals which are later taken out while processing. Himalayan Pink Salt is a rock salt extracted from Himalayan mountain ranges in Pakistan. Khewra Salt Mines, Pakistan the world’s second-largest salt mines are the source of Pink Himalayan salt. The name Pink salt is attributed due to the pink and red color of rocks that contains salt. The salt coming from Khewra Salt Mines comes in white, pink, and red colors. The presence of pink color is due to the minerals like iron oxide, and copper that mark the pink salt healthier in regular use.
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| Pink color salt rocks outside mines are ready for loading |
Pink Himalayan salt is also considered
healthier because it has a relatively less quantity of sodium as compared to
regular sea or table salt.
The pink salt is extracted manually from caves
of Khewra, grinded, and processed locally before marketing that preserves the
organic value of salt, and makes it more favorable forhealth-consciouss
individuals.
Khewra Salt MINES, PAKISTAN
Khewra mines are situated
at the foothills of Himalaya in the Salt Range near Jhelum district, Punjab
Pakistan. Khewra Salt Mines is just 169 km south of the capital Islamabad and is
easily accessible for tourists via motorway. The per annum production of pink
salt from Khewra mines is about 300, 0000 to 4000,000 tonnes according to
official sources. It is also estimated by geologists that the mine has a store of
6.687 billion tons of pink salt in it.
Asides from mining the world’s
best salt, the Khewra Mine is one of the biggest tourist attractions for local and
international visitors. A train takes the visitors right inside the great salt
mine where the visitors experience the mystified feeling while walking around 2
km beneath the giant Himalayan range. There is a glittering salt lake and other
monuments solely made of salt rocks are great attractions inside the mine. A
local guide told us, a wall in Khewra Salt Mine is referred to as a “wish granted
wall”. It is a myth that when someone prays after licking the wall, the wish is
fulfilled.
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| About 1 km inside Khewra mines under the Himalayas |
“Interestingly, students who come on educational trips are the ones who don’t mind licking the wall many
times and asking for their wishes as compared to regular tourists,” the guide
grinned. Tourists can also buy
decoration pieces, vases, lamps, and many things that are purely made of salt from the
stalls at Khewra Mines.
Tourists can also enjoy
seeing carts full of pink rocks that are carried out of mine and then send to
local factories for processing.
Pink Himalayan salt or rock salt in Pakistan is one of
the cheapest commodities in a grocery basket in Pakistan. A salt pack is
available in just PKR 15-PKR 20 in stores. Big food brands sell rock salt in a
refined form after adding Iodine and other minerals in it but still, it is not
much expensive.
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| A Pakistani top food brand Pink Himalayan Salt |
Pink Himalayan Salt and
India
The term, Himalayan Pink Salt was used first time by Indian
traders for marketing the rock salt mined from the world’s second-largest salt
mine, Khewra, Pakistan. The rock salt has been excavated and processed for local use mainly in Pakistan. A portion of rock salt has been exported at small
level trade with India, and to countries ofthe the Middle East. From here, it reaches other European and Asian countries. Local traders of salt arranged to export
it mainly in rock form as there was not any policy for the international trade of
salt in Pakistan. In recent years, Pink salt observed large demand in the USA, UK,
Thailand, Kore, and other countries because of its rich organic source and benefits.
Taking advantage of the situation, Indian traders started to further market and
sell the salt under their name as Pink Himalayan Salt. In 2018, Pakistan
suspended trade of non.-essential items with India including the suspension of
salt exports.
The Pakistani Pink Himalayan salt is popular in massage centers
of Thailand, Korea, Europe, and the USA. It is also being used as a healing agent by
famed healing centers. Many Indian traders in UAE continued to buy process and
sell it at higher prices in international markets.
Pakistan also realized the worth of its Pink Himalayan Salt
in the international market. It decided to get register its rock Himalayan Salt
from Khewra Mines with international trade bodies. After registering pink
Himalayan Rock Salt with international trade bodies, Pakistani traders will be
able to sell the salt in international markets to earn great revenue. It’ll
take salt trade to next level in Pakistan. Also,o it’ll deject India to market
Pakistani salt under their name.