Legend has it that we have the horses of Alexander the Great to thank for the discovery of Himalayan Crystal Salt. Apparently, during a rest stop near the Jhelum river, some of the horses began licking the rocks around them. The horses instinctively knew that they could obtain the valuable and nutritious minerals they required from the salt rocks.

These salt ranges are located at the foothills, between the valleys of the Indus, in the northern part of the Punjab region of Pakistan. It derives its name from extensive deposits of Crystal salt, which are one of the richest salt fields in the world; they are of Precambrian age. The salt range is more than 1,600 feet (490 m) in thickness and spread approximately 186 miles (300 km) beneath the Karakoram Range and the Great Himalayas of Pakistan. Home to the world's greatest masses of high mountains, nine of the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks are located here including K-2. 

Discovery of Rock Salt dates back to days of Alexander the great in 326BC. It was in the year 1872, when scientific mining operation started under the British rule.Prior to annexation of Punjab by the British Empire in the year 1849, the salt mines in the province were owned and operated by the Janjua Rajas, and after its annexation, the British Government took over the administration of these mines. Centuries ago, salt was take out at these mines from the out-crops of the salt seams exposed to the surface of the hill by those who were living in its vicinity. Dr. Warth, a renowned Mining Engineer of UK, laid out the main tunnel at ground level in 1872 to have an easy and direct approach to salt deposits. The new system introduced by Dr. Warth is still in-vogue. There are 19 levels at present with the systematic workings. Only 50% of salt is excavated from the working seam while the remaining 50% is left as pillars.