Salt is one of the oldest chemical produced. Salt is produced naturally by seawater evaporation; the process can easily be manipulated to create lager amounts. Some people still produced salt using ancient methods, there are new, faster and less expensive ways to produce salt. Depending on the resource of the salt and method used to create it, the salt will have differing flavors and textures.
There are three main methods for producing salt:
Sea Salt
Sea water has 3.5 percent salt content. Producing sea salt on an industrial scale, seawater is placed in large "concentrating ponds" this will allow efficient evaporation from the sun and wind. Sea salt can only be performed in areas where there is low rainfall allowing enough time to pass for evaporation..
Ancient methods of Sea salt is also produced on a much smaller scale. However, it needs a skilled technique. Fleur de sel is ancient salt that is still produced today.
Rock Salt mining
Rock salt is found under rocky layers of the Earth and is extracted through mining. These large deposits of salt are made possible by underground waterways that are long since dried up.
Similar methods of mining gold and diamonds are used when mining rock salt. Once the salt is brought to the Earth's surface, it is crushed. This salt is not used for human consumption as it has impurities that are harmful.
Salt Brines
Hydraulic mining of salt, pumps water below the Earth's surface to dissolve salt create a salt brine. This brine is then pumped back up to the surface and evaporated creating salt. The salty brine is treated prior to evaporation to reduce mineral content, creating a almost pure sodium chloride crystal. Making it safe for human consumption .This method is less expensive, has the highest yield, and produces clean salt. Most table salt used by humans is produced in this manner.
