Maybe it is the type of salt you are consuming. Yes you could be correct that you are craving the minerals not the salt.
The Grain and Salt Society web site has a lot of info about salt. Their home page is Seasalt .com/index.html.">http://www.celtic- Seasalt .com/index.html.
Go to Seasalt .com/soddietkil.html">http://www.celtic-seasalt.com/soddietkil.html to read a short article "Sodium Restricted Diets Kill". It is from their site.
Another site that has some good info on salt is http://stopcancer.com/000/025.htm.