Pakistan Largest Salt Mine is Khewra. Its the world’s second-largest salt mine after Poland and Asia’s largest mine. Its length is 300Kms.its reserves are about 22 million tons. This is the second biggest source of eatable salt in the world. The Khewra Salt Mine (or Mayo Salt Mine) is located in Khewra, north of Pind Dadan Khan, an administrative subdivision of Jhelum District, Punjab Region, Pakistan, which rises from the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is Pakistan’s largest and oldest salt mine and the world’s second-largest. It is a major tourist attraction, drawing up to 250,000 visitors a year.
The Khewra Salt Mine (or Mayo Salt Mine) is in Khewra, north of Pind Dadan Khan, an administrative subdivision of Jhelum District, Punjab Region, Pakistan. The mine is in the Salt Range, Potohar plateau, which rises from the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and is the second-largest in the world.
The mine is famous for its production of pink Khewra salt, often marketed as Himalayan salt, and is a major tourist attraction, drawing up to 250,000 visitors a year. Its history dates back to its discovery by Alexander’s troops in 320 BC, but it started trading in the Mughal era. The main tunnel at ground level was developed by Dr H. Warth, a mining engineer, in 1872 during British rule. After independence, the BMR took possession until 1956 and then PIDC owned the mines till 1965. After the India-Pakistan war in 1965, the WPIDC took over the administration of salt mines and in 1974, the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation took over the mine, which still remains the largest source of salt in the country, producing more than 350,000 tons per annum of about 99% pure halite. Estimates of the reserves of salt in the mine vary from 82 million tons to 600 million tons
The Khewra Salt Mine is excavated within the base of a thick layer of highly folded, faulted, and stretched Ediacaran to early Cambrian evaporites of the Salt Range Formation. This geological formation consists of a basal layer of crystalline halite, which is intercalated with potash salts. This basal layer is overlain by gypsiferous marl, which is covered by interlayered beds of gypsum and dolomite with infrequent seams of oil shale. These strata are overlain by 200 to 500 meters (660 to 1,640 ft) of Neoproterozoic to Eocene sedimentary rocks that have been uplifted and eroded along with the Salt Range Formation to create the Salt Range at the southern edge of the Pothohar Plateau. The Ediacaran to early Cambrian evaporites of the Salt Range Formation has been thrust southward over Neoproterozoic to Eocene sedimentary rocks by many kilometres, which tectonically incorporated fragments of the underlying younger strata within these evaporites. The Salt Range is the southern edge of a well-described fold-and-thrust belt, which underlies the entire Pothohar Plateau and developed south of the Himalayas as a result of the ongoing collision between India and Eurasia.
Palynomorphs (organic microfossils) have been used to make inferences about the ages of the Salt Range Formation and its salt layers that are exposed within the Khewra Salt Mine. For example, while working with the Geological Survey of India in the 1930s and 1940s, Birbal Sahni reported finding evidence of angiosperms, gymnosperms, and insects inside the mine which he regarded as originating from the Eocene period. However, on the basis of additional geologic data, later research has concluded that these palynomorphs were contaminants.
Khewra Salt Mine is a major tourist attraction, with around 250,000 visitors a year, earning it considerable revenue. Visitors are taken into the mine on the Khewra Salt Mines Railway. There are numerous pools of salty water inside. The Badshahi Masjid was built in the mining tunnels with multi-coloured salt bricks about fifty years ago. Other artistic carvings in the mine include a replica of Minar-e-Pakistan, a statue of Allama Iqbal, an accumulation of crystals that form the name of Muhammad in Urdu script, a model of the Great Wall of China and another of the Mall Road of Murree. In 2003 two phases of development of tourist facilities and attractions were carried out, at a total cost of 9 million rupees. A clinical ward with 20 beds was established in 2007, costing 10 million rupees, for the treatment of asthma and other respiratory diseases using salt therapy. The “Visit Pakistan Year 2007” event included a train safari visit to the Khewra Salt Mine. In February 2011 Pakistan Railways started operating special trains for tourists from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Khewra. For this purpose, the railway station of Khewra was refurbished with the help of a private firm.
Other visitor attractions in the mine include the 75-meter-high (245-foot-high) Assembly Hall; Pul-Saraat, a salt bridge with no pillars over a 25-meter-deep (80-foot-deep) brine pond; Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors), where salt crystals are light pink; and a café.
What is Khewra Salt Mine Timing / Opening Hours?
The timings of khewra salt mines opening hours are from 9am morning to 4pm evening. Situated at the foothills of the Salt Range, Khewra Salt Mines are the oldest in the salt mining history of the sub-continent. Salt occurs in the form of an irregular dome-like structure. There are seven thick salt seams with a cumulative thickness of about 150 meters. At places, rock salt is 99% pure. Salt is transparent, white, pink, reddish to beef-colour red. In certain horizons it is crystalline. Inside the mine, there are beautiful alternate bands of red and white colour salt. There are 18 working levels. The cumulative length of all drives is more than 40 km.
What is Khewra Salt Mine Ticket Price?
Salt mine Entry Ticket or entry fee of Khewrha Salt Mines is Rs.400/- Khewra Salt Mine distance from Lahore and Islamabad is equal if you drive through Motorway
What is Khewra Salt Mine Contact Number?
The phone number or helpline of Khewra Salt Mines is (0544) 231137.