I can tell you with 100 % certainty (demonstration will follow) that here
/ci/ means /the thing where you are adding the salt to/,
/ la cosa, il posto, al quale si sta aggiungendo il sale /,
quindi si tratta di un pronome di luogo.
Proof:
If you enter a kitchen and abruptly say to the cook:
/ vacci piano con il sale /,
the cook (if not angry beacuse of your order) will almost certainly ask you ?
/ vacci dove ? /, as the context, the /where to put salt/ is not clear.
But if you say the same thing, while the cook is putting the salt into the pot for spaghetti, than he could just say /I know my job, thank you!/,
in Italian: /conosco il mio mestiere, grazie!/, as /-ci/ is linked here to a clear context of place!