Ember & Grain · Field Notes · Salts · Origin Atlas · Nº 08
Pink Himalayan
from the Salt Range
Khewra, Punjab, Pakistan. Rose-colored rock salt cut from the heart of a mountain, from a sea older than almost any life on land.
32°39′ N · 73°01′ E
The name says Himalaya, but the salt comes from a low line of hills to the south. The Salt Range rises out of the Punjab plain between the Indus and the Jhelum. At Khewra a mouth opens in the hillside, and inside, the mountain is salt: pink and red and white, in bands, as far as the lamps reach. Some forty kilometers of tunnel run through it.
In our jars
Pink Himalayan is the base of Ember & Grain Hickory and Cherry Wood. Shop the salts →
Field notes
| Origin | Khewra, Salt Range, Punjab |
| Position | 32°39′ N · 73°01′ E |
| Type | Rock salt (halite) |
| Age | About 600 to 540 million years |
| Method | Room-and-pillar mining |
| Color | Rose to orange, from iron oxide |
| In our jars | Hickory · Cherry Wood |
Continue in The Origins Atlas
The rest of this chapter lives in the book: the full story of the place, how the salt is made, the people who keep the tradition, and the hand-drawn map.
- The Mine · room and pillar
- The Pink · iron in the stone
Sources: Wikipedia, “Khewra Salt Mine” and “Himalayan salt.” Imagery is illustrative and AI-generated.