Inside the mine that fuels the $500 million pink Himalayan salt global market. Spoiler: it’s not in the Himalayan mountains.
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- Pink Himalayan salt is sourced from Pakistan, not the Himalayas, despite its name.
- The world’s largest deposit of pink salt, the Khewra mine, produces 400,000 tons of pink salt a year.
- Pakistanis are expanding salt processing to capture more value in the global market.
Marketed as a premium, natural alternative to table salt, pink Himalayan salt can sell for up to 30 times the price. However, this salt doesn’t actually come from the Himalayas.
Instead, the world’s largest deposit of pink salt — the Khewra salt mine — sits about 155 miles west of the Himalayas in Pakistan’s Punjab province, in a region known as the Potohar Plateau.
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Most of the salt mined in Khewra is exported to markets like the US and Europe. There, it’s often branded as “Himalayan” pink salt, named for the broader region than its exact origin.
Still, demand for this premium product continues to grow. The global market for Himalayan salt was $523 million in 2025 and is projected to reach nearly $700 million by 2030, according to Grand View Research.
Its popularity is driven in part by marketing. Influencers and wellness companies have promoted claims that pink salt can regulate blood sugar, improve sleep, and detoxify the body. However, scientists say there is no solid evidence to support this.
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Regardless, pink salt’s supply isn’t expected to go away anytime soon. The Khewra mine alone produces close to 400,000 tons of salt each year, and the reserves are large enough to last for centuries at current extraction rates.
Business Insider visited the mine late last year to see how this salt is extracted, processed, and shipped to more than 80 countries worldwide for use in a wide range of goods, from edible salt to bath products and decorative lamps.
The Khewra mine has been a source of salt for generations
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Industrial-scale mining began in the 1870s during British colonial rule. After Pakistan gained independence in 1947, the government took ownership of the mine and continues to lease sections to private companies.
Today, miners do not remove all of the salt; large portions are left behind to support the tunnels and prevent collapse.
Inside, workers rely on a mix of modern geological surveys and techniques passed down through generations to identify high-quality deposits. Once they find one, workers drill holes about 4 feet deep into the rock and pack them with explosives by hand to blast the salt rock loose.
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It’s a risky process and workers must wait about 30 minutes after each blast before reentering tunnels to check for misfires or unstable rock.
After drilling and blasting, the large blocks are transported out through an extensive network of tunnels that spans about 25 miles across 17 levels. Some of the raw salt blocks that come out can weigh over 1,700 pounds, making them too heavy to lift without machinery.
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The risks don’t end in the mine
Workers involved in processing the salt are also exposed to fine particles released during cutting and shaping.
At one factory, drilling and cutting salt blocks can produce what workers describe as “salt fumes.” Over time, those particles can collect in the lungs and make it harder to breathe.
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Workers use protective measures like water sprays, masks, and goggles to reduce exposure.
Some of these blocks can still weigh up to 220 pounds, requiring careful handling to avoid injury. Workers use diamond-tipped blades to slice through the salt.
Factories have begun automating parts of this workflow to increase output. The Ittefaq salt facility can process nearly 350 metric tons of salt per day.
Pakistan’s fight for its share of the market
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For years, Pakistan exported much of its pink salt in its raw form, limiting the value it captured in the global market.
Large volumes of unprocessed salt were shipped to India at low prices. There, it was refined, packaged, and sold to Western markets as a premium product — sometimes even labeled as “Made in India.”
That meant much of the profit was generated later in the supply chain, outside of Pakistan, once the salt had been processed and branded.
This dynamic began to shift in 2019, when political tensions between India and Pakistan escalated over the Kashmir region. Pakistan suspended bilateral trade, cutting off a key export route for raw salt.
In response, local companies expanded their own processing capabilities.
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Instead of exporting raw blocks, more businesses began investing in equipment to grind, refine, and package the salt domestically. That allowed them to produce finished goods that could be sold directly to international buyers.
It’s a gradual transition. Earlier processing facilities were less modern and, in some cases, lacked basic safety measures.
Still, the shift marks a broader effort to retain more of the industry’s profits within Pakistan — moving from a supplier of raw materials to a producer of higher-value products in a growing global market.