Why is salt mined when there’s a bunch of it available in the ocean?

Question

I’m sure its harder than mining, but how and why?

In: Technology

Answer 1

In Western Australia they use salt pans to evaporate water out of seawater leaving salt behind. They’ve made large shallow inlet ponds that they open for the seawater to come in, then let it sit in the baking hot air to gradually become salt. Due to the high ambient temperature this process is pretty cheap, but you need the right environmental conditions for it to be reliable. Iirc it takes about 2-3 months and obviously it can only be done during the dry season.