Rock Salt: Its Geology, History, And Production

 

Rock Salt Mine (or Mayo Salt Mine) Rock Salt Mine (or Mayo Salt Mine) is in Khewra located in the north-western part of Pind Dadan Khan, an administrative subdivision of the Jhelum District, Punjab Region, Pakistan. The mine is situated in the Salt Range, Potohar plateau that rises out of to the Indo-Gangetic Plain and is second in size in the world.

The mine is well-known for its pink Rock Salt, which is often sold as Himalayan rock salt. It is an important tourist attraction that attracts up to 250,000 people every year. The mine's history goes to the time of its discovery by Alexander's soldiers in the year 320 BC however, it began trading during the Mughal period. The principal tunnel on the ground was designed by H. Warth, a mining engineer, in the year 1872 under British rule. After independence, BMR assumed ownership in 1956. Then, the PIDC controlled the mines until 1965. Following the war between India and Pakistan 1965 in 1965, the WPIDC assumed the management of salt mines. Then, 1974 in 1974, the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation took over the mine. It is still the biggest salt producer in Pakistan, producing more than 350,000 tonnes per annum, with around 99percent pure halite. Estimates of salt reserves at the mine range between 82 million tonnes and between 600 million and 82 million tons.

Geology

The Rock Salt Mine is located within the foundation of a dense layer of extremely folded, faulted as well as extended Ediacaran into early Cambrian evaporites from the Salt Range Formation. The formation is composed of an upper stratum of crystallized halite that is intercalated by potash salts. The basal layer is covered by gypsiferous sand, which is surrounded by an interlayered bed of dolomite and gypsum, with a few areas made up of oil shale. These strata are surrounded by 200-500 meters (660 to 1,640 feet) from Neoproterozoic up to Eocene rock sediments that have been lifted and eroded alongside those of the Salt Range Formation to create the Salt Range at the southern portion of the Pothohar Plateau. The Ediacaran to the early Cambrian evaporites from The Salt Range Formation have been pulled southward on Neoproterozoic to Eocene sedimentary rocks for many kilometers and were incorporated by tectonically fragments from the younger strata inside the evaporites. It is believed that the Salt Range is the southern edge of a well-described folding and thrust belt that runs through the whole Pothohar Plateau and developed south of the Himalayas because of the continuing collisions of India as well as Eurasia.

History

The mine is well-known for its Pink Rock Salt.

It is believed that the Rock Salt Mine is also known as Mayo Salt Mine, in honor of Lord Mayo who visited the mine as Viceroy of India. The salt reserves in Khewra have discovered during Alexander the Great and traveled his way through the Jhelum as well as the Mianwali area during the Indian campaign. This mine was found however it was not discovered by Alexander or his allies and the horses of his army after they were discovered drinking the salt stones. Horses suffering from illness in his army were also healed after licking salt rocks. 21. In the Mughal period, salt was traded in various markets as far as Central Asia. 22. Upon the demise of the Mughal empire the mine was transferred to Sikhs. Hari Singh Nalwa, the Sikh Chief of Staff, shared control of the Salt Range with Gulab Singh who was the Raja from Jammu. Gulab Singh was the one who controlled the Warcha mine and Gulab Singh was the Raja of Khewra. The salt quarried under Sikh rule was both consumed and utilized to generate revenue. [citation needed]

In 1872, a few years after they took over the Sikh’s territories The British expanded the mine. They discovered the mining process to be inefficient as it was narrow and uneven tunnels and entryways that made the transportation of workers challenging and risky. The supply of water within the mine was inadequate and there was no facility to store the mined salt. The only route for access to the mine went through the difficult terrain that was rocky and difficult to navigate. To fix the problem, the government leveled the road, constructed storage facilities, providing a water supply, upgraded the tunnels and entrances, and introduced a more efficient system to dig salt. Penalties were instituted to curb the smuggling of salt.

Location

The entrance to the mine

In the Jhelum District's Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil is the Rock Salt Mine. It is located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Islamabad and Lahore and is accessible via the M-2 motorway around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Lilla interchange while heading toward Pind Dadan Khan on Lilla Road. The mine lies situated in the mountains which are part of the salt range, which is a mineral-rich mountain range that stretches for about 200 kilometers across the Jhelum River to the south of the Pothohar Plateau to where the Jhelum River joins the Indus River. [2626 Khewra mine is two hundred and eighty meters (945 feet) above sea level and 730 meters (2400 feet) to the summit from the mine's entrance. The underground mine is spread over 110 square kilometers (43 sq. miles). [citation needed]

 

Production

The display of the daily production of salt

Estimates of total reserves of salt found in mines are ranging from 82 million tons [which? up to 600 million tonnes. In its uncooked form, it has negligible amounts of magnesium, calcium, and potassium, as well as sulfates and moisture. It also has zinc, iron manganese, copper lead, and chromium. trace elements. Salt from Khewra also known by the name of Rock Salt can be found in red, pink, off-white, or clear. In the early days of British rule, The Khewra mine was producing between 28,000 to 30,000 tonnes per year; this reached 187,400 tons annually during the five fiscal years that ended 1946-47, and 136,824 tons in the two years that ended 1949-50, following the system of working established by H. Warth. The output of the mine was estimated to be 385,000 tons of salt annually which is nearly 50% of Pakistan's total mining of rock salt grill. If that is the case, at that level of production the tunnel is predicted to last for an additional 350 years.

Rock Salt is Pakistan's most recognized rock salt. It is utilized to cook, as a bath salt, as brine, and as a raw material in numerous industries, including an ash-making plant for soda that was set up by AkzoNobel in the year 1940. Salt extracted from the Khewra mines is also used in the production of decorative objects such as lamp vessels, vases, ashtrays, and statues. They can be exported to countries like the United States, India, and numerous European countries.  The usage of rock salt to produce decorative and artistic items began in the Mughal period when numerous craftsmen used tableware and ornaments made from it. The late sculptor and artist, Warth introduced the lathe for cutting artworks from rock saltin Bristol as Warth found it to be like gypsum in its physical properties.

In 2008, the Government of Pakistan decided to sell off 17 profitable companies including the Rock Salt mines. But the plan was canceled. The mine is run by the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, an official department.

Tourism

A tiny Masjid constructed of salt blocks within Khewra's complex of salt mines. Rock Salt Mine complex

Rock Salt Mine has become an extremely popular tourist destination, which attracts around 250,000 visitors per year, which is a significant revenue. Visitors are taken to the mine via the Rock Salt Mines Railway. There are many pools of salty water within. There is a mosque. Badshahi Masjid was built in mining tunnels and is lined with multi-colored salt bricks approximately fifty years in the past. Additional artistic designs within the mine include replicas of Minar-e-Pakistan and the statue of Allama Iqbal, an accumulation of crystals that form an inscription for Muhammad as written in Urdu writing, and a replica from the Great Wall of China and another model of Murree's Mall Road of Murree. In 2003, two phases of the construction of tourist attractions and facilities were implemented, at the amount of 9 million rupees. A medical ward with 20 beds was set up in 2007, for 10 million rupees. This was to treat asthma and other respiratory illnesses with salt therapy. The "Visit the Pakistan Year 2007" celebration included an excursion on a train to the Rock Salt Mine. In February 2011, Pakistan Railways started operating special trains for tourists traveling from Lahore as well as Rawalpindi towards Khewra. To facilitate this the railway station in Khewra was renovated by a private company.

Other tourist attractions within the mine comprise the 75-meter-high (245-foot-high) Assembly Hall; Pul-Sara, which is a salt bridge that has no foundations, which spans a 25-meter-deep (80-foot-deep) brine-water pond Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) in which salt crystals appear light pink and the cafe.

Flooding in 2010

In 2010, amid torrential rains across Pakistan, the waters from the nearby Nullah got into the mine, to a depth of 2 feet (60 centimeters), and blocked the exits after that the mine had to be shut. The mine was later opened again and is still in operation.