Table Salt
Located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea is the Middle Eastern country of Syria. Syria has a multitude of resources including natural gas, petroleum, iron ore, phosphates, gypsum, sodium chloride, and salt, which they utilize to create their main exports. For example, one of their main export goods is table salt created from their abundant, natural salt resources.
Table salt can be manufactured from rock salt and Syria's mid-Euphrates region is rich with salt deposits where rock salt can be mined and extracted. After the rock salt beds are quarried, salt is gathered in large clumps which are first crushed, then finely ground and lastly screened into various grades based on size and purity. The salt is then loaded onto trucks and barges or into bags to await export. Through the use of anti-caking agents, the salt can be stored like this, outdoors and uncovered, without running the risk of reforming into a large, hardened mass.
An alternate method of manufacturing table salt is through the evaporation of water from the sea, saline (salt) lakes and from other artificial or natural brines, which extracts the water's salt content. An example of an artificial brine is one that is made by dissolving rock salt in water. This brine can then be used to manufacture the completed product using the evaporation method. This method is often preferred because the evaporation method provides additional salt purification opportunities.
Syria has multiple salt lakes located within their borders which they use to create exportable table salt. The largest salt lake is the Al-Jabbul. It is an approximately 60 square mile seasonal salt lake to the southeast of the city of Aleppo. Additionally, located to the northeast of Damascus and the northeast of Al-Hasakah, respectively, are Jayrud and Khatuniyyah, two more major salt lakes.
