What is rock salt? From where these are mined?some uses of rock salt.
Answers
Rock Salt is a chemical sedimentary rock that forms from the evaporation of ocean or saline lake waters. It is also known by the mineral name "halite". It is rarely found at Earth's surface, except in areas of very arid climate. It is often mined for use in the chemical industry or for use as a winter highway treatment. Some halite is processed for use as a seasoning for food.
Like gasoline and natural gas, rock salt is an important resource. The difference, of course, is that rock salt is available in huge amounts, and all levels of purity are useful for one industry or another. For example, although most rock salt is not edible, it is often used in culinary processes which do not require the salt as a direct ingredient.
Rock salt is also used to change the properties of water or other materials used in manufacturing, while the rock salt itself is not used in the final product.
Rock salt, also known as halite, is a very common mineral, with an interesting back story. Just as oil develops around natural deposits of vegetation, rock salt is often found where there was once an inland lake, which has dried up and been covered by hundreds or thousands of years of sedimentation and geological formations. These deposits tend to crystallize, and often contain minerals and impurities from the surrounding soil, much like petrified organic material.