The barrier theory is Carl Ochsenius' explanation of how rock salt deposits were formed:

During the Permian period, more than 230 million years ago, large parts of Central Europe and other regions were covered by an inland sea, which was largely cut off from the open sea by shallow straits, also known as bars or barriers. Since at that time our latitudes possessed a dry, hot climate, the intense solar radiation evaporated the water, like in a gigantic evaporating pan.

The salinity of the body of water increased until the dissolved minerals (carbonates, sulphates and then chlorides) crystallized out. This led to the development of vast deposits, some of which were several hundred metres thick, which were covered later during the further geological developments by impermeable layers and thus protected from being dissolved again: today's salt deposits.

Salt that has been compressed or compacted is called compacted salt.

At esco, we distinguish the regularly formed salt tablets and lick blocks (for animal feed) from salt compacted in an unspecific, irregular form, which we have given the product name "compacted salt". However, essentially tablets and lick blocks are also compacted salts.

Crystallization is the term used to describe the nucleation of dissolved salts and their growth into crystals during salt production.

In the majority of cases, this occurs under pressure in closed evaporation systems. The salt thus obtained is called vacuum salt and is especially pure.

De-icing salt, also called road salt, is sodium chloride (NaCl) or common salt, which is used in winter to melt snow and ice on roads, thus counteracting hard-packed snow and black ice.

esco offers high-quality rock salt as de-icing salt.

Deposits are certain parts of the earth's crust in which natural concentrations of solid, liquid or gaseous raw materials can be found.

These occurrences are categorized according to their formation and form:

• horizontal deposits:
  the original form that has not been affected by tectonic forces from the earth's interior.
• salt dome or salt cap:
  in most cases a steep formation. In this case, tectonic forces from the earth's interior have deformed the originally horizontal deposits and e.g. created a steep, roughly mushroom shape under high pressure.

The splitting of a chemical compound by means of electric current is termed electrolysis.

In the context of salt, this is normally chlor-alkali electrolysis, in which the important basic chemicals - chlorine, hydrogen and sodium hydroxide - are obtained from sodium chloride.

In general, food-grade salt is understood to be sodium chloride or common salt that is absorbed through food. Food-grade salt is one of the most important mineral substances in human nutrition.

At esco we use the term food-grade salt to refer primarily to those food-grade salt products we sell to the food industry; whereas the food-grade salt we produce in household packaging for the consumer, which is sold by the retail trade, we call table salt.

Salt of the quality used in manufacturing and processing industries is termed industrial salt. Industrial salts are e.g. dyeing salts for the textile industry, hide curing salts for leather and fur processing, salt for the treatment of animal bowels and water softening salt for water softening purposes.

Both rock salt and vacuum salt are used as industrial salt.

Justus Liebig, since1845: von Liebig (*1803 in Darmstadt, †1873 in Munich), was a German chemist. He is regarded as one of the founders of organic chemistry (the study of the structure and properties of carbon compounds) and, around, 1840, discovered the mineral fertilizer and demonstrated the growth-promoting effect of nitrogen, phosphates and potassium.

The quotation "The most precious of all precious stones is salt" is ascribed to him. Because without salt there is no life.

Carl Christian Ochsenius (*1830 in Kassel, †1906 in Marburg/Lahn) was a geologist and worked from 1857 to1869 as a mine director in Chile, before he became a professor at University of Marburg in 1871.

In 1877 he formulated his well-known barrier theory about the origin of salt deposits.

Salt is an important basic substance for the pharmaceutical industry. For example, infusions and dialysis solutions are created from it. Moreover, salt is utilized in the production of medicines and dietary supplements as well as cosmetic and wellness products.

Salt of the quality produced for the pharmaceutical industry is always termed pharma salt. These salts are vacuum salt with the highest level of purity, which is produced and processed in production areas and under hygienic conditions especially established for this purpose.

Pickling salt is one of the food-grade salts and is salt that has been specially enriched with nitrite for the pickling of meat and meat products.

Together with curing, pickling is one of the oldest ways of preserving meat and meat products. It preserves the color and edibility of meat products, gives meat products their typical pickled aroma and is moreover used as an antioxidation agent.

Rock salt is a mineral compound with a very high sodium chloride content, which, however, varies depending on the deposit. esco rock salt consists of 99 % NaCl and is suitable as a food-grade salt even without further purification.

Rock salt is extracted by miners underground. First larger pieces of salt are detached from the salt deposit by boring and blasting. These are then brought to the surface and crushed, sieved and packaged in the factory.

The rock salt deposits originated about 230 million years ago as the result of the evaporation of what were once oceans.
Keyword: barrier theory

More about rock salt

The word "salary" (= payment for work, remuneration) is derived from the Latin word "sal" (= salt).

In olden days, obtaining salt was a far more complicated and dangerous process than it is today. Salt was also therefore significantly more expensive and was worth its weight in gold. That's why salt was sometimes accepted as a means of payment. For example, Roman soldiers received parts of their pay in the form of salt, the so-called "salarium argentum" ("sal" = salt, "argentum" = silver / money, and thus effectively "salt money").

The current French word "salaire", in English "salary", bears witness to this. This etymology can also be found in the terms for remuneration / pay in other languages: "salario" in Spanish, "salário" in Portuguese etc.

A saltworks or saltern is a facility or operation for obtaining salt, except for salt mines in which salt is extracted by miners.

We distinguish primarily between:

• vacuum saltworks in which so-called vacuum salt (also called saline salt or refined salt) is produced from saturated brine by means of evaporation;
  and
• sea water saltworks in which sea salt is obtained from sea water through evaporation.

It can thus be stated that saltworks are those facilities or operations for obtaining salt that create the salt by means of the vaporization / evaporation of brine.

Sea salt is obtained from so-called salt gardens through crystallization. During crystallization, the effects of the sun and wind play a major role. Sea salt also contains, in addition to sodium chloride, small quantities or traces of other substances, including potassium, magnesium and manganese salts.

More about sea salt

Rock salt is also essentially sea salt that arose millions of years ago through the falling dry or drying out of the large primeval oceans and, in the course of millennia, became covered by further layers.
Keyword: barrier theory

Sodium chloride / NaCl, also called common salt or halite, occurs naturally in large quantities, in part dissolved in sea water, in part in solid form and different concentrations in numerous mineral compounds, such as sylvinite and carnallite.

Rock salt is a mineral compound with a very high sodium chloride content, which, however, varies depending on the deposit. esco rock salt consists of 99 % NaCl. The remaining content are accessory minerals, predominantly anhydride (calcium sulfate).

Sodium chloride is indispensable to life for the human organism. Similarly to vitamins, NaCl cannot be created by the human body itself. Humans, like other mammals, therefore have to absorb a sufficient quantity of salt through their food. An adult body contains about 150 g to 300 g of salt and requires at least 3 g to 5 g every day to replace the salt lost through perspiration and egesta. In dissolved form, common salt exists in the human organism in the form of positively charged sodium and negatively charged chloride ions, which play an essential role in the water balance, nervous system, digestive system and bone formation.

Vacuum Salt,
Refined Salt,
Saline Salt

Vacuum salt is obtained from saturated brine by means of evaporation in so-called saltworks. Either a  natural source of brine can be exploited or the solution mining process used.

More about vacuum salt

Water softening salt are special salts for water softening facilities and dishwashers. They are used to regenerate the ion-exchange material, i.e. to restore its ability to absorb for the hardness constituents in the water - primarily calcium and magnesium ions.

Soft water helps to prevent lime residues e.g. in dishwashers or on crockery and to improve the effectiveness of hot water installations.

One of the most important properties of water softening salt is its high sodium chloride content and rapid solubility. Water softening salts are, depending on the application and installation, usually created from pure vacuum salt and offered in various degrees of granularity, compacted or in tablet form.

In vacuum salt production, wet salt is crystallized salt with a certain residual moisture content, which results from the evaporation of brine. Most wet salt is submitted to a drying process.

In the context of winter winter maintenance, de-icing salt dampened with a salt solution (e.g. NaCl, CaCl ₂ or MgCl ₂) is, however, increasingly called wet salt. It prevents the salt from being blown away when it is spread, enables greater spreading widths, adheres to frosty and icy road surfaces better than dry salt, causes faster de-icing and keeps the roads free of ice for longer. The faster thaw effect and smaller losses due to salt being swept away mean that with wet salt, better results can be achieved simultaneously with smaller quantities of salt.

White gold is generally a synonym for a white substance, which owing to its preciousness, is referred to as gold, and therefore as something very valuable - without being gold or white gold at all.

Salt is traditionally called white gold. There are several good reasons for this - here are some of them:

• Sodium chloride is indispensable to life and exceedingly important for human nutrition. In addition to its further property as a seasoning, common salt is a reliable preservative, which has always been and remains necessary and useful for supplying humans with food.
• Already in ancient times, the Greeks and Romans regarded salt as a gift of the gods. Because it was of such great value, it was sometimes used as a means of payment.
  Keyword: salary
• In earlier times, obtaining salt, especially rock salt, was considerably more difficult and dangerous than it is today. Salt was also therefore significantly more expensive than it is now and for a long time was worth its weight in gold and precious stones.