Construction on Wyoming’s largest trona mining project is scheduled to begin in mid-2025 and employ 2,100 construction workers annually before becoming operational in early 2029, according to an application filed by backers of the project with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Industrial Siting Council.
The DEQ announced plans Monday to hold a public hearing Dec. 3 to consider the merits of the Dry Creek Trona Project proposed by Pacific Soda LLC in southwestern Wyoming’s Sweetwater County.
The proposed project cost is anticipated to be more than $5 billion, confirmed David Steed, permitting and regulatory affairs lead for Pacific Soda, in a statement to Cowboy State Daily.
Material costs for the project are anticipated to be $2.3 billion.
Pacific Soda wants to begin construction of the project in the third quarter of 2025, according to Monday’s application filed with the DEQ.
The project will employ 4,200 construction workers on the project at its peak with 530 permanent jobs when completed in four years.
The project could produce roughly 6 million tons of soda ash a year. Of that amount, Pacific Soda hopes to produce 440,900 tons of sodium bicarbonate.
Monster Mine
The 6 million tons of soda ash is more than double the annual production level forecast by rival WE Soda Ltd. (known as Project West), which also wants to build a new soda ash production project southwest of Green River.
Project West has the potential to produce 3 million tons a year to start.
The rush to build these trona operations is designed to give America a competitive edge against Chinese rivals.
Pacific Soda and Project West together plan to mine the world’s largest deposit of soda ash, which are key ingredients 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.
The Pacific Soda project is seeking to develop lands and build facilities capable of generating soda ash and sodium bicarbonate using a solution mining methodology to target deep beds of trona.
The project includes two primary components: the mine site, and the processing facilities.
The mine is to be located about 20 miles southwest of Green River while the processing facilities are located 8 miles west of Green River.
The economic impact that the Pacific Soda will have on Sweetwater County is tremendous.
Pacific Soda will pay an estimated $300 million to construction workers to build the mining operation and generate $396 million in local sales a year. It’ll also provide $580 million in direct annual economic output.
The proposed mine would use a water injection system to mine trona 2,300 feet below the surface.
The mine and supporting facilities could disturb 3,300 acres of private land and 2,900 acres of public land, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Steed told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that he was wasn’t aware of any concerns in the application process before the DEQ’s Industrial Siting Council — one of the final hurdles before construction begins next year.
Contact Pat Maio at pat@cowboystatedaily.com
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.
