My grandmother's maiden name was SCHERL - PERLMUTTER.
Family legend is that the reason for the double name is  that one of her PERLMUTTER ancestors
was a salt merchant, exporting salt to Russia. In one incident he got into trouble while crossing the border back from Russia.  
Following his Rabbi's advice, he escaped with his family "southwards" to East Galicia, possibly to  Kossow.
He also changed his formal name from PERLMUTTER to SCHERL (possibly by "buying" the identity of a deceased  Jew).

I estimate the time of the incident in about mid 1800s, after formal  surnames were adopted.

We have no idea where our PERLMUTTER  came from and therefore no idea at all about this PERLMUTTER branch.

My question is: Where could have been  a possible place that a Jew earned his living from exporting salt to Russia in mid 1800s,
located probably anywhere  "north"  to Galicia?

--
Yohanan LOEFFLER
Melbourne, Australia

Researching (main surnames):
From Austria, Slovakia: LOFFLER / LEFLER, LEDERER, SCHNEIDER, NATHAN, SEELENFRIED, ZAPPERT.
From Bukowina, Galicia: MINSTER / MUNSTER, NAGEL, SCHERL, PERLMUTTER, IWANIR.
From Poland / Belarus: ALTMAN, KAMINSKY, KAMINKIER, LUBETKIN, SZTARK, YOSELEWICZ, KOSLOWSKI, KRAMARZ, RAUCHFELD.

Do you have any male line descendants of those Perlmutters? Someone who can do a Y-DNA test and see whom he matches?

Israel Pickholtz
Ashkelon
allmyforeparents.blogspot.com
endogamy-one-family.com

My genealogy research is electric.
It follows the path of least resistance.

There were salt mines in Drohobycz:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drohobych_salt_plant



Asaf Feig

There are huge salt mines near Krakow. Krakow, now in Poland,  was in Galicia in the 1800s. The Wieliczka Salt Mines are now a tourist attraction and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Salt was mined there from about the 13th century until the end of the 20th century.  There are amazing salt carvings inside the mines which are huge. I recommend a visit there to anyone visiting the area.  You can find out more by checking wikipedia
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieliczka_Salt_Mine#:~:text=The%20Wieliczka%20Salt%20Mine%20%28Polish%3A%20Kopalnia%20soli%20Wieliczka%29%2C,salt%29%20was%20produced%20there%20from%20the%20upwelling%20brine.

Drohobych, which someone mentioned above, which is close to Lviv (Lemberg),  had salt pits and a salt business.   
Drohobych was the center of the oil business -  what is today Ukraine was the third largest producer of oil in the world after the US and Russia. 

So our Jewish ancestors were or could have been involved  in any of these businesses. 
 
--
Avivah R. Z. Pinski 
Wynnewood, PA (near Philadelphia)
Researching:  Reznik-Drohiczyn, Poland
Zuchman - Sarnaki, Warsaw, Poland
Sundak - Latvia;  Slonim -  Belarus
Rifczes - Ukraine, Austria; Kopeikin - Belarus
Pinski - Mogilew, Belarus