Africa Factbook

Thousands of years ago salt was more precious than gold and the African Taoudenni salt mines of northern Mali were a valuable commodity. How is salt made and used in Africa. There are three methods used to produce salt; solar, evaporation and rock mining . The rock salt mining method is one of the oldest methods of producing salt. Salt appears in veins which are the original bedded salt deposits of ancient underground waters. Salt also may be found in vaults, which were formed when Earth pressures forced salt up through cracks in the bedrock. Rock salt has always been mined in the rocky under layers of the Earth's surface from ancient underground seas, lakes, and rivers that have long since dried up.   Throughout history in many parts of the world salt has been hard to get, and people feared a lack of salt was parallel to the world ending. Since 1587, salt mining in Taoudenni located in Mali, Northern Africa  remains a trading tradition. Camel caravans have been traveling