Everything to Know About Rock Salt and Its Uses
Rock salt, sometimes misleadingly also referred to as salt stone, is an evaporite and sedimentary rock (salt rock) created by chemical sedimentation from seawater or evaporation of mineral-rich groundwater. Rock salt from bulk rock salt distributor is mono-mineral, which means that apart from small admixtures of other minerals such as anhydrite, sylvine, gypsum, and others, it is composed almost exclusively of the mineral halite.
Education And Locations
Due to the constant continental drift, changes in sea level, and climate, marine areas or salt lakes were cut off and isolated from their inflows. These dried out entirely and often left behind layers of salt that were kilometers thick. Due to further sedimentation, these were covered with other rocks and partly or wholly sunk under the earth's surface due to continental drift.
The salt domes created by the plasticity of the salts at high pressure were used for salt production early on (Wieliczka / Poland, 3500 BC). Well-known rock salt deposits in Austria include Hallstatt and near Hallein, where rock salt has been mined since the time of the Celts. One of the oldest salt mines in Europe is located near Wieliczka in Poland.
A large part of the world's rock salt production (estimated at up to 70%) comes from the region known as the Salt Range in the hill country of northeastern Pakistan, the Pakistani Punjab. This part of Pakistan borders the Karakoram in the north. This salt is mined and often incorrectly marketed in Europe as Himalayan or Karakorum salt. Both mountain ranges are, however, folded mountains, geologically a low-salt area.
Extraction
Mining
Rock salt is mined underground by breaking the rock salt into blocks. The mining is very economical.
Salt Pans
The vast majority, around two-thirds of the world's salt production, is obtained in salt pans. The salt deposits are drilled in several places. Water is pumped into some of the boreholes to dissolve the salt; Through the other boreholes, brine (with a salt content of up to 35%) comes back to the surface as an almost saturated saline solution.
During the subsequent evaporation, a grain of extraordinarily pure and high-quality table salt with a purity of 98 percent and more is left over. This type of rock salt extraction is even more cost-saving than mining, despite the high energy requirements for evaporation. As a result, caverns are formed in the salt dome, which can cause damage to the earth's surface if they collapse.
Use
Rock salt from bulk rock salt distributor is processed into table salt after chemical and physical cleaning, resulting in other salts such as potash salt. The vast majority (around 85%) is processed in the industry. The rest of the rock salt obtained is divided between the production of table salt (about 3%), de-icing salt (around 5%), and industrial salt (around 7%).
"Refined Salt" Versus "Original Salt"
Numerous esoteric authors in the literature defend themselves against the practice of table salt producers to add additives to natural salt or remove contaminants from the salt through specific treatment processes. They differentiate between refined and so-called primordial salt.
They believe that the positive health effects would be diminished or lost during refining, while the adverse health effects would increase. In reality, the so-called primal salt consists of about 98% sodium chloride, just like refined salt. With an intake of a maximum of two teaspoons of salt a day, all other ingredients are present in too small amounts to have physiological effects.
There is evidence that different ethnic groups have different "salt sensitivity." General statements on salt consumption are not possible according to the current state of research.
