Where Can I Find Salt In South Africa

Where Can I Find Salt In South Africa

Salt, or sodium chloride, is a readily available inexpensive bulk mineral that can be produced by a
variety of methods:

• Solar brine – seawater evaporation in shallow coastal basins or artificial ponds. Lake brine is
  also used as feed in conventional solar ponds.
• Underground deposits of halite or rock salt, mined by room and pillar, or solution mining which
  forms a large underground cavity.
• Vacuum evaporation – brine dehydration to crystallize salt in a series of multiple-effect
  evaporators operated under a vacuum to reduce process temperatures.

The main uses of salt irrespective of production method are:

• Chemical production;
• Cooking and food processing;
• De-icing of roads in winter;
• Agriculture;

Other industrial uses such as oil and gas exploration, textile dyeing, aluminum refining,
glazing, soap making, and leather tanning.
The biggest consumer of salt is the chemical industry. The chloralki sector is a major consumer using
salt to manufacture chlorine and sodium hydroxide. Salt is a popular raw material in the industry as it
is the cheapest and most common source of soda and chlorine. About 1, 75 tons of salt are required
to make 1 ton of chlorine and 1,1 ton of caustic soda co-product.

OCCURRENCE OF SALT IN SOUTH AFRICA

• South Africa’s salt resources are confined to underground brines associated with inland saltpans coastal saltpans and seawater. There are no known economic rock salt deposits in the country.

The majority of inland pans lie on rocks of the Karoo Sequence, in a curved belt between 50 and 60 km wide, extending from near Vryburg in the North-West Province to Hopetown on the eastern border of the Northern Cape, continuing westwards past Brandvlei [Figure 1]. Most of the pans have formed on shales of the Dwyka and Ecca Groups, which, in that area, were deposited under marine conditions.

A considerable number of large saltpans are found in the Kalahari region to the north of Upington.
These also lie on shales of the Dwyka Group. Near Waterpoort, at the foot of the Soutpansberg in the
In Northern Province, a saltpan occurs on basalt of the Lebombo Group.

Buy salt in South Africa

Sea Salt

R5.00 – R199.00

Why is salt located in South Africa?

The reason the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) was erected outside the town of Sutherland, some 370km from Cape Town, is because of its ideal location for stargazing.