Salt extraction

In the Himalayas, salt mine using the ‘room and pillar’ method (also known as the ‘dome and pillar’ method), a method develop by the British in the early 19th century that ensures the safety of the mine.  Salt Manufacturers from each ‘chamber’ in the mine. The other 50 per cent store in pillars to preserve the structure of the chamber and the mountain.

Production of salt

Once upon a time, almost all salt use in commerce produce by evaporating seawater, and sea salt still a staple food in many coastal countries, especially where the climate is dry and the summers long. Commercial salt produce from rock salt, sea water and other natural and artificial brine products. Most artificial brines produce by pumping water into underground salt ponds. A significant proportion of the salt water itself  use directly in industrialized countries.

Rock salt:

Rock salt deposits extract by conventional drilling methods or in quarries, depending on depth, thickness and local conditions. The rock salt mined dissolve and the brine processed for salt extraction as describe below. This method makes it possible to refine the salt. If the rock salt  of high purity, as in Poland and the United States, it can be crushed and graded and sold as such. The extracted salt first crush into large pieces, then broken into smaller pieces and graded into different grades.

It is then loaded in bulk onto trucks, bunkers and barges or packed into bags for further processing. Bulk transport is greatly facilitated by the use of anti-caking agents, which allow the salt to be stored outdoors or in the open air without turning back into solid lumps.

Steps of salt extraction:

• 
  

  Quality control

Since salt is a completely natural product, it may contain stones or impurities. Before production, we make sure that the stones are selected without any defects.

• 
  

  Washing

Large pieces are placed in the machine and washed with water from above. This ensures that the stone is clean and polished. This is very important because it preserves the “natural” character of the salt. No one in the Himalayan salt industry cleans the salt in this way.

• 
  

  Drying

We put it in the oven and dry the stone in warm dry air, as the salt should not be exposed to moisture. Leave the salt in the oven for 5-6 hours until it is completely dry. Unlike other factories that dry the salt in the sun, we have a time-saving, weather-resistant dryer that protects the salt against contamination.

• 
  

  Quality control

After drying, the salt again examine for foreign bodies. This is the second part of our control centre screening in a screening machine with different grids. Larger pieces of salt crush in the factory. We manufacture sieves to order according to customers’ mesh size requirements. We can supply sieves with any mesh size.

• 
  

  Sieving Technology

We pride ourselves on being a company that is constantly developing and utilizing innovative screening technologies and new processes. We have installed state-of-the-art color  separation machines that separate particles and unwanted materials from the salt so that we can truly care about the quality of our product.

• 
  

  Separation

The salt  fed into a separator where impurities  filter out. Quality controllers ensure that no contaminated salt particles are present.

• 
  

  Metal detectors

We check the salt with a metal detector to ensure that it does not contain any foreign matter, including iron.

• 
  

  Packing and sealing the bags

The bags pack and seal before opening and inspecting. A quality control team  involve in this process and inspects the final packaged product. Internally, we call this quality control.

• 
  

  Laboratory tests:

The laboratory carries out quality control tests and checks the product for various parameters such as sodium chloride, calcium, magnesium, sulphate, moisture content, water solubility, particle size and iodine content to ensure that we provide our customers with a quality product.

• 
  

  Storage and delivery:

The salt is store in our warehouse until final dispatch. The raw salt from the mines efficiently packed and transported directly to our state-of-the-art salt processing plant in Pakistan. To meet strict food safety and quality guidelines, all our salt products processed and package here using our own technology, equipment and experienced and qualified salt specialists.

Extraction of sea water and brine

At any temperature, only a certain amount of salt dissolve in water. Evaporation is the opposite process. When an aqueous solution containing several salts (e.g. seawater)  evaporated, each salt precipitates when it reaches the saturation point in the solution.

Therefore, the different salts in seawater precipitate at different times and form a layer at the bottom of the evaporation pond. In seawater and many brines, calcium carbonate, calcium sulphate, sodium chloride, magnesium sulphate, magnesium potassium chloride and magnesium chloride precipitate in that order.