Investors behind a major trona mining project planned for southwestern Wyoming have placed a price tag of $2.6 billion on building a sprawling mining and processing operation in Sweetwater County that could help give Wyoming and America a competitive edge against Chinese rivals.
For more than a year, WE Soda Ltd. has been discussing plans to build a new soda ash production project southwest of Green River (also known as Project West) that has potential to produce 3 million tons a year to start.
In the company’s application submitted Monday with the Department of Environmental Quality’s Industrial Siting Council, Project West disclosed plans to hire about 170 workers to begin construction in January 2025, growing to nearly 1,300 during the peak of construction activities by the end of 2026.
Roughly 300 full-time workers will be needed as the trona mine shifts to production.
“It’s the first significant step in the permitting process,” said Craig Rood, governmental affairs executive with Project West, of its permit application.
Rood said that a housing expert was hired to help Project West study housing shortages throughout the construction phase and beyond.
“Like everyone else in Wyoming, there are concerns about housing,” Rood told Cowboy State Daily.
About That Housing …
Other employers in the region are challenged by the shortages in housing in southwestern Wyoming, including TerraPower, which is building a nuclear demonstration plant in Kemmerer, and the continued expansion of ExxonMobile’s carbon capture facility at its Shute Creek Treating Facility in La Barge.
During the construction phase, the permit application for Project West stated that the preferred alternative is to house the nonlocal workforce in hotels, recreational vehicle campgrounds, and short- and long-term rentals.
“Project West has been working diligently to secure lodging agreements to accommodate the peak workforce,” the permit stated. “To date, Project West is working on negotiating contract agreements with eight providers with a combined capacity of 848 hotel rooms and up to 1,271 RV sites,” it added.
Assuming Project West receives the approvals on its permits, commercial operation could begin by the end of 2026, according to the 1,296-page permit application with the siting council.
Challenging The Chinese
Project West plans to mine the world’s largest deposit of soda ash and provide a key ingredient for electric vehicles and solar panels. The mine could satisfy a rapidly rising demand and help the U.S. challenge Chinese dominance in this sector.
A public hearing on the project is scheduled for May 15-16 in Rock Springs.
The operation will have two major components: a soda ash processing facility, called the West Soda plant located near Granger, and a solution mining area located 15 miles southeast of the plant.
The project is located near the Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 30 system interchange. It is anticipated that most of equipment for construction of the facilities will be delivered by truck via I-80 and U.S. 30.
The permit application also underscores the importance of taxes that Project West will begin paying during the construction phase and 30-year operational period from 2027 through 2056.
Project West estimates that the total ad valorem tax revenue generated in Sweetwater County would total roughly $328 million. An ad valorem tax is derived from an assessed value of real estate.
West Soda estimates the payment of annual production taxes of $9.8 million to Sweetwater County and $5.9 million per year in severance taxes on trona payable to the state.
One other major trona miner is still poised to unveil its permitting plans with the Industrial Siting Council.
Pacific Soda, a joint venture between Sisecam and Ciner, also is going through the permitting process to mine trona in southwestern Wyoming and produce 6 million tons of soda ash a year, more than double Sisecam’s current production level.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
