Khewra Salt Mine

What is Khewra Salt Mine?

Khewra Salt Mine is an underground rock salt extraction site in the Salt Range of Punjab. Halite layers formed from ancient seabeds buried and compressed during Himalayan mountain building. Mining has exposed those layers in tunnels that also serve as a domestic tourism route.

The site is both an industrial salt source and a well-known Pakistani visitor attraction.

Where is Khewra Salt Mine located?

The mine is in Khewra, Pind Dadan Khan Tehsil, Jhelum District, Punjab. It is not in Chakwal District, though many drivers exit M-2 at Chakwal or Kallar Kahar and follow the Khewra-Chakwal road west.

Search "Khewra Salt Mine" or "PMDC Salt Mine Khewra" in Google Maps for the visitor gate. Full GPS details are on our location page.

Which district is the salt mine in?

Khewra Salt Mine is in Jhelum District, Punjab. Chakwal city is a common overnight base for visitors, but the mine itself is in Jhelum District.

What is special about Khewra Salt Mine?

Visitors often note the electric train through coloured salt walls, monuments carved from halite, and underground air near 18°C while surface parking can be very hot in summer.

The deposit produces pink, white, and reddish salt bands used in domestic and export markets, often sold as Himalayan pink salt. See pink rock salt for geological background.

Discovery and history in brief

Local tradition links discovery to Alexander the Great's army around 320 BC when horses were said to lick salt-encrusted ground. Historians treat that account as folklore, not documented history.

Systematic British-era mining expanded from 1872. PMDC has managed operations since independence. The full timeline is on our history page.

What visitors see on a standard tour

After check-in at the PMDC counter, visitors typically board an electric train through tunnels, then walk a lit route past the salt mosque replica, Sheesh Mahal, Minar-e-Pakistan model, and a brine lake viewing platform.

Most people spend two to three hours on site. Wear closed shoes and bring a light layer for underground sections. Read inside the mine for detail and see photos.

• Electric train ride through halite tunnels
• Badshahi Mosque salt replica with coloured lighting
• Sheesh Mahal crystal chamber
• Underground brine lake platform
• Gift shop with rock salt products near the exit