Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Due to its unique characteristics and compact structure, this salt is used to make some amazing products. Chauhan: Three colors of salt are found here. "If they find even a strand of hair, they'll reject the entire batch," said Mahmood, laughing as he tugged at his hair. Interestingly, the overall salt in the mine is calculated to be around 6.687 billion tons. Per Healthline, these minerals are found in such small quantities that it would take 3.7 pounds (1.7 kg) of pink Himalayan salt to obtain the recommended daily amount of potassium, for instance. In other words, no need to rush out and buy pink saltthe cheap stuff at your local supermarket is practically the same, nutritionally speaking. Locations. Somewhere back in 326 B.C, Alexander stopped by the Jhelum and Mianwali region during his Indian campaign. Today it's a major tourist a. Warning, everyone move to the side! Muhammad Ashraf Abbasi: First, we do the drilling. In addition to that, you can see different models made of salt bricks of historical places of Pakistan, including Minar-e-Pakistan, and the famous Badshahi mosque. "PM says discovery of huge reserves of iron ore could end 'begging bowl' culture", "Pakistan discovers 'huge' reserves of iron ore", "ICEM - Pakistani Manifestation Condemns Deadly Mine Accident, Inaction in Retrieving the Dead", "2 miners killed in trolley accident in Balochistan coal mine", "2 Chinese engineers die in Pakistan mine collapse", "Fifteen die in Pakistan coal mine blast", https://web.archive.org/web/20100628035154/http://www.gems.com.pk/Gemstones_History.asp, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mining_in_Pakistan&oldid=1121285911, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, On 27 January 2019, two miners died after being hit by a trolley inside a coal mine in Balochistan's coal-rich. And he says conditions will improve when he can pass laws that will trademark Himalayan pink salt. [17][11][20][21][22] In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration warned a manufacturer of dietary supplements, including one consisting of Himalayan salt, to discontinue marketing the products using unproven claims of health benefits. SMAP . Reply. The Khewra Salt Mines are among the world's oldest and biggest salt mines. Salt mines are located mostly in the trans Indus extension of the Salt Range which is 217km from Islamabad or from Kohat. Insider Business 7.41M subscribers Subscribe 130K 17M views 2 years ago #HimalayanSalt #BigBusiness #BusinessInsider Himalayan salt doesn't come from the Himalayas. The entry fee is just 200 rupees. But in Pakistan, Himalayan pink salt has been the subject of parliamentary debates, editorials and trending hashtags. They may be mined in common locations or regions based on their popularity. The ban on bilateral trade has "put a hard line" in front of Pakistani companies "that they need to replace what was going to India. Waqas Panjwani: Twenty-three percent of Pakistan's rock salt was exported to India as raw material. And those salaries have stayed the same even though Pakistan has severed its salty relationship with India and the pink salt is seeing growing demand abroad. [14] Salt lamps can be a danger to pets, who may suffer salt poisoning after licking them. The mine is in the Salt Range, Potohar plateau, which rises from the Indo-Gangetic Plain, [2] and is the second largest in the world. Muhammad Imran: From the Khewra mine, salt is loaded onto several trucks that travel on the motorway and bring it to our factory, which is in Lahore on Defence Road which is 350 km away. Pakistan's salt industry hasn't seen dramatic reform since the 1870s, when the British colonial rulers of the subcontinent began wide-scale mining. The Khewra Salt Mines, as they are called, are located about 160 kilometres south of Islamabad, at the foothills of the Salt Range to the north of the Jhelum city of Pind . But extracting the coveted salt means descending into dark caves, then blasting and carrying heavy rock. I don't think there will be any decrease in demand or sales because people are using it a lot, and every day sales are increasing. But Babar, the adviser to the prime minister, called it "a blessing in disguise.". Not only that, Khewra salt mines have a post office inside for the workers and miners. "This is a unique product," said Sen. Shibli Faraz, the leader of the Senate, who has repeatedly raised the issue in Pakistan's Parliament. We are making these goods for them. The goal? Khewra Salt Mine Contents 1Understand 2Get in 3Get around 4See 5Buy 6Eat 7Drink 8Sleep 9Connect 10Go next Jump to navigationJump to search Khewra Salt Mine tunnel (Crystal Valley) The world's second largest salt mine, the Khewra Salt Mine, is a major tourist attraction, drawing thousands of visitors every year. Phase 6, Karachi. Diaa Hadid/NPR The coal found in Punjab is of, The main deposits include Barbara deposits of Kuch near. This geological formation consists of crystalline halite intercalated with potash salts, overlain by gypsiferous marl and interlayered with beds of gypsum and dolomite with infrequent seams of oil shale that accumulated between 600 and 540 million years ago. Salt has been mined in the region since 320 BC. Most of sea salt is obtained from Lasbela and the area near Makran's coast in Balochistan. It is found in Attock, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, In Punjab, the Celestite occurs as irregular veins over a length of three to four miles to the east and northeast of, Chalk deposits are mainly formed in the limestone accumulation, which can be found in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Khushab, Mianwali, D.G. NPR reported that a ton of salt sold to India for $40 could fetch $300 in Europe. Narrator: But that money doesn't always make it back to the miners. The Khewra Salt Mines, located 100 miles south of Islamabad, are said to be the second largest salt mine in the world. Himalayan Salt is one of nature's effective and purest gifts. In all cases, "it was being sold for a song," Faraz said. Then, under British rule, salt mining ramped up in the 1870s. But on the grinders, it's not possible, which is why Muhammad's staff wore masks even before the pandemic. Next, we ignite it by using a safety fuse, and then we blast out the salt. It will clear their minds and they will be able to explore it [the mines] by themselves, Hussain said. In Punjab important location of fireclay deposits are Chappri, Dhok Pass, Mouza Bazaar, Encyclopedia of Pakistan by Zahid Hussain Anjum, Jahangir Book Depot, Pakistan 2005-2006, This page was last edited on 30 January 2023, at 06:32. The salt range's total length is 200km from the place of Baganwala to Kalabagh. From this tunnel, the mine extends over 2,400 feet into the mountains, where several hundred miners work daily. Every day, miners extract more than 1,000 tons of salt in the form of huge blocks. (AN photo), A tunnel view inside the salt mines of Khewra, Pakistan. "We are getting peanuts for this gold.". KHEWRA: The Khewra Salt Mines, located about 160 kilometres south of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, are said to be the second largest salt mine in the world and the largest in Pakistan. Khewra salt mine is located in Tehsil Pind Dadan Khan of District Jehlum in the province of Punjab of Pakistan. On this saw, water prevents dust from flying up. [2][3][4], Local legend traces the discovery of the Himalayan salt deposits to the army of Alexander the Great. Imran: Natural salt lamps, geometrical shapes, animal salt licks, eating and cooking plates. Currently around 52 minerals are mined and processed in Pakistan.[2]. You can even buy lamps made from it. These include actinolite, hessonite, rodingite, agate, idocrase, rutile, aquamarine, jadeite, ruby, amazonite, kunzite, serpentine, azurite, kyanite, spessartine (garnet), beryl, morganite, spinel, emerald, moonstone, topaz, epidote, pargasite, tourmaline, garnet (alamandine), peridot, turquoise, grossular, quartz (citrine and other varieties) and vesuvianite. [11][14] Although a study of pink salts commercially available in Australia showed Himalayan salt to contain higher levels of a range of elements, including calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, aluminum, barium, silicon, and sulfur, and reduced levels of sodium, compared to table salt, the authors concluded that "exceedingly high intake" (a level in excess of the recommended daily salt intake by almost 600%) would be required for the differences to be clinically significant, levels at which any potential nutritional benefit would be outweighed by the risks of elevated sodium consumption such an intake would entail. Hypersaline regions are terrestrial analogs of the Earth's primitive ecosystem and extraterrestrial environment. Many businessmen venture into this mountainous area for salt mining but only a few were successful. Outside, they search for the blocks with the best shape and coloring to send to manufacturers. The rest of the salt serves as pillars to offer desired support to the mines. Annually 325,000 tons of salt is harvested from Khewra mines having a total of around 6.687 billion tons of salt. "They are called Zen cubes in the USA," Siddiqui said. hide caption. [27] Claims that their use results in the release of ions that benefit health have no scientific foundation. After purchasing it at a relatively low price, Indian companies were processing the salt into products for the West and selling it at large markups while not reporting the origin of the products. That said, the iconic pink salt is a good, more natural alternative to processed table salt, much like sea salt, and its origin is fascinating. Only about a dozen exporters saw an opportunity to sell products under Pakistani labels directly to Europe. Salt is rarely considered a matter of national puffery. Salt mines are located mostly in the trans Indus extension of the Salt Range which is 217km from Islamabad or from Kohat. Narrator: The lamps are then coated with a gel to prevent humidity from interacting with the salt, and then they're shrink wrapped. Malik Navid, a worker at a pink Himalayan salt mine in Khewra, Pakistan, waits for a large grinder to shoot out ground salt. Khewra salt mine has an estimated total of 220 million tonnes of rock salt deposits. "We have to protect our natural resources," he wrote. Diaa Hadid/NPR Saltean reports that these attractions draw about 40,000 visitors each month who tour the site on an antique mine train. Formed over 250 million years ago, the lucrative salt deposits are just like any other sea salt in terms of basic composition. Once picked, the blocks are loaded up on trucks either by hand or crane and sent across Pakistan. The salt is mined from rolling red-brick hills that rise from marshes in Khewra, about two hours from the capital, Islamabad. Mining in Pakistan Mining is an important industry in Pakistan. He says the move will allow Pakistan to accrue revenue when companies use the name and it will tie Pakistan's name to an upmarket product. Later, these blocks are loaded on the trucks for further distribution to different manufacturing companies nationwide. The Indian market is like the Pakistani market, he shrugged. [3], In February 2015, reserves were found in Chiniot, around 160 kilometres northwest of Lahore, by a Chinese group, the Metallurgical Cooperation of China. In the U.S., Himalayan pink salt has become popular in a variety of uses, from cooking to spa treatments. I must say its a beautiful gift from God to us, said Syed Munir Hussain Shah, a school teacher who had brought his students to the mines on a field trip. The miners use different tools, such as hand drills and pickaxes, to drill and mine the salt rocks. On the retail market, it sells for around $9. The Khewra salt mine also known as a Himalayan pink salt mine, located in the Punjab region of Pakistan, is the second-largest salt mine in the world. White, red, or pink. The salt is also rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, and iron. A labour crushes rock salt to make a souvenir at the Khwera Salt Mines. He said he prefers to think of the product as a toothpick holder. It's probably no longer an active mine, at least not that shaft, and is now being used for display. (AN photo), Salt is visible in rocks and the sand in the area around the Khewra Salt Mines. The approximate driving distance between Islamabad and Khewra Salt Mines is 199 kilometers or 123.7 miles. Over the years, the Khewra Salt Mines have become more than just a massive source of the world's favorite colorful salt; they're also a notable tourist attraction. [23], Slabs of salt are used as serving dishes, baking stones, and griddles,[24] and it is also used to make tequila shot glasses. Khewra salt mines are Just a two and a half hours drive from Rawalpindi. (AN photo). Made Here: Watch How Pink Himalayan Salt Is Mined in Pakistan, Our Population Will Shrink Sooner Than You Think. So why is this salt pink? However, the salt started gaining popularity among the masses in the late 2000s, courtesy of its pink hue and other health benefits . Some of the major gemstones are enlisted below;[4], The main mining areas of these gems are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Balochistan. [4], "Description of Important Minerals occurring in Punjab | Punjab Portal", "Improvement of Locally Available Raw Bentonite for Use as Drilling Mud", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_minerals_of_Pakistan&oldid=1136421787, It is presently being extracted from Siwalik rocks found near Villages of. The moon shape and the heart shape, as well. 2023 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement. Abby Narishkin and Steve Cameron still standing Why sake made with rice polished to less than 1% is so expensive So Expensive Following is a transcription of the video: Narrator: Himalayan salt. Some salts mined in Pakistan are not suitable for food or industrial use without purification due to impurities. The same continuity is seen in the long history of salt extraction at Khewra and other smaller mines in the Salt Range. It was interesting to read about it in our social studies book but seeing it is far better, Bokhari said, saying she now planned to convince her classmates to pay a visit to the mines also. However, according to an estimate, these mines can produce 220 million tons during a lifespan. Miners first excavated the main ground-level tunnel in 1872 during British rule. Narrator: Miners will spend eight hours underground at a time. On 21 March 2011 at least 45 miners died due to an explosion in a coal mine in Surran range, some 35km (22mi) east of the provincial capital, Quetta. Antofagasta, the company which possesses the Reqo Diq field, is targeting an initial production of 170,000 metric tons of copper and 300,000 ounces of gold a year. The temperature inside the salt mines remains consistent, around 18C to 20C throughout the year. One man twisted newspaper pages into cartridges and filled them with gunpowder from a sack. Located in the north of Jhelum city in Punjab province, the Khewera salt mine is the second-largest salt mine in the world. This is Khewra Salt Mine and it's located in Jhelum District, Punjab. in the Punjab region of Pakistan near the base of the range where, 600 million years ago, ancient sea beds dried up leaving mineral-rich salt deposits behind. Moreover, there is a tunnel in the mines which is known as the crystal valley having rock salt crystals on the roof and walls. While pink salt does indeed come from the world's highest mountain range, mining it is probably not what people imagine. It's mined deep inside the. [4][5], A number of precious stones are mined and polished for local as well as export purposes. It's mined 186 miles away in Pakistan. Old hand mining techniques are used to obtain this mineral-rich Himalayan salt. Waqas Panjwani: Normally, the price of a pink salt pouch starts at 60 cents for a manufacturer. Khan. Despite the fact that halophiles initiated the formation of terrestrial ecosystems, their products and identities . A crashing boom echoed as boulders of rock salt tumbled down. In Balochistan, there are many salt lakes such as the lake Chaghi located in Sultan Nokkundi. We don't have the technology in our mine to efficiently extract the salt. View history Tools The Khewra Salt Mine (or Mayo Salt Mine) is in Khewra, north of Pind Dadan Khan, [1] an administrative subdivision of Jhelum District, Punjab Region, Pakistan. Mahmood, whose business has been devastated by the ban on exports to India, said it's a bad idea to force companies to label salt as Pakistani, because the country is known as a place of troubles not fancy salt. A tunnel view inside the salt mines of Khewra, Pakistan. He said the government was trying to make it easier for businesses by trying to lessen and simplify regulations. Mahmood said he knew he could make $300 a ton selling to Europe. Diaa Hadid/NPR Siddiqui's client in the U.S. retails that cube for $16 the same price that Pakistani companies get paid wholesale for nearly half a ton of crude salt. On 14 February 2011, 2 Chinese engineers died in a chromite mine collapse in. Narrator: Most of the work is done by hand, but drills and saws have sped up the process in recent years. Over 400,000 tons of pink salt is mined from Khewra each year, which is slightly more than the total weight of the Empire State Building in New York City. The Gemstones Corporation of Pakistan looks after the interests of stake holders in gemstone mining and polishing as an official entity. Narrator: It's also pretty similar-tasting to sea salt. Khewra Salt Mine is among them and the best place to visit. For practical purposes stone, marble and other quarries may be included in this list. 2023 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Four hundred thousand tons of pink salt is mined from the mountain each year from tunnels that stretch 25 miles through the Earth on 17 levels of operation. The Khewra Salt Mines, located 100 miles south of Islamabad, are said to be the second largest salt mine in the world. For the LED lamp, see, List of topics characterized as pseudoscience, "Chemical evaluation of major salt deposits of Pakistan", "Pakistan's Pink Himalayan Salt Has Become A Matter Of National Pride", "Chemical Characterisation of Himalayan Rock Salt", "Does pink Himalayan salt have any health benefits? We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. (AN photo), Melting salt particles seen inside a mine at the Khewra Salt Mines. Muhammad exports about 80% of his products, primarily to Western countries like the US, UK, and Spain, where demand has spiked in the last decade because of the alleged health benefits. Pakistan has deposits of several minerals including coal, copper, gold, chromite, mineral salt, bauxite and several other minerals. Khewra Salt Mines can be reached from Islamabad in 3 hours. Why natural latex mattresses are so expensive, How Pat LaFrieda produces $270 million of meat per year for Shake Shack and top steakhouses, How bone carvers in India are keeping a prehistoric art alive, Why sake made with rice polished to less than 1% is so expensive. Himalayan Pink Salt vs. Narrator: We went inside the mine turning this mountain into 400,000 tons of pink salt each year. The miners hurled them into a truck adorned with bells and birds. However, the salt range geology dates back to 600 million years ago. The mine is 288m above sea level while its . Muhammad was one of them. Workers bag and weigh 1,000 of these pouches of pink salt every hour. In 2007, a clinic of 20 beds was established at level five to treat Asthma and other allergies using salt therapy. [16] Himalayan salt lacks these beneficial effects of iodine supplementation. The Salt Range is the southern tip of the Himalayas in Pakistan's Punjab area, between the Pothohar Plateau in the south, to the Jhelum River in the north. SMAP represents all Salt Manufacturers, producers & exporters in Pakistan. Himalayan salt comes from a thick layer of Ediacaran to early Cambrian evaporites of the Salt Range Formation. It doesn't take much hunting to find the eye-catching pink crystals in your day-to-day life; whether it's in your social media feed or the spice aisle of your local grocery store, Himalayan pink salt has become a legitimate phenomenon. Some companies make natural salt lamps and other decorative items from the Himalayan salt that are getting very famous in the wellness industry. While other manufacturers grind the salt blocks into fine grains to be used for seasoning meals. In Punjab Province huge coal deposits are found in the Salt Range. [29], "Salt lamp" redirects here. Around 70% of the extracted rock salt is used in industries, while the rest 30% is used for edible purposes. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Our Population Will Shrink Sooner Than You Think, The Wild Conspiracy That the Titanic Never Sank, Watch: How World-Famous Chefs Knives Are Forged, 9 Conspiracy Theories Stranger Than Fiction, The Siege at Waco, In the Words of Who Was There, The Story of Humanitys Search for Bigfoot, The Cocaine Bear Drug Smuggler Was a Real Person, The Worlds Dubious History of Prison Islands, Why the NFLs Artificial Turf Is So Controversial, How Fender Makes Its Stratocaster Electric Guitar. This list of mines in Pakistan is subsidiary to the list of mines article and lists working, defunct and future mines in the country and is organised by the primary mineral output. You can feel low humidity and salt-laden air inside the mines, which is beneficial for your lungs. At the end of the salt range tour, you can simply sit at the restaurant outside the salt mines and buy rock salt lamps from the souvenir shop.
Does Grayland Beach State Park Have Wifi,
Homes For Sale Northwest Visalia, Ca,
Birthday Party San Antonio,
Articles H
