Turkey-based Sisecam is making a big play in Wyoming’s trona patch. It has decided to negotiate for Ciner Group’s indirect shares in Sisecam Wyoming, as well as all of its partnership shares in Pacific Soda.
The latter is building out Wyoming’s largest new trona mine.
Sisecam announced pursuit of Ciner Group’s minority stakes in Sisecam Wyoming and Pacific Soda on Nov. 29 in a routinely required government disclosure.
Ciner group owns a 20.4% indirect share in Sisecam Wyoming as well as a 40% non-controlling partnership share in Pacific Soda. Sisecam will seek to buy them out for U.S. $285,389,000.
In its disclosure, Sisecam said its decision is in line with company goals to “further strengthen its holistic approach and effective management in the region and industries it operates, as well as to become a global leader in soda ash production.”
Sisecam has operations in 14 countries on four continents, including the United States and North America.
The move, if realized, positions Sisecam as the parent of Pacific Soda and the largest new trona mine in the largest trona patch in the world.
Serious About Wyoming
Sisecam did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s requests for comment, but these are big moves in Wyoming’s trona patch, Wyoming Mining Association Director Travis Deti told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
“I think this shows the company is serious about investing Wyoming, to develop our resources, create jobs, and generate revenue for the state,” he said.
Trona is a limited resource, with only three known locations in the world. These are Wyoming, China and Turkey, but Wyoming’s, at a 90% share, is the largest reserve by far.
The resource is particularly rich at 40 billion tons of trona — enough to supply the world’s projected soda ash needs for the next 2,000 years. The reserve formed from volcanic ash over a period of several million years.
Soda ash is used to make a variety of important, necessary products, ranging from baking soda, detergents and soaps to glass. It’s also useful in a variety of chemical manufacturing settings for things like water treatment and flue gas de-sulfurization. More recently, there’s been a demand for soda ash in making lithium batteries, including those used in electrical vehicles, which has boosted projected demand.
There are four companies mining the Trona Patch, according to the Wyoming Mining Association’s web page about Trona. They are Genesis Alkali, Sisecam, Solvay Chemicals, and Tata Soda Ash Partners.
About half of Wyoming’s soda ash is exported overseas, making it Wyoming’s top international export by far. The industry mined 16.6 tons of trona in 2023, for an economic impact that includes $207 million in taxes and royalties and a payroll of $450 million.
Trona Projects Times Two
The Pacific Soda Dry Creek project that Sisecam is seeking to buy out will be the largest of two new Wyoming trona mines, once constructed.
The project is set to begin sometime in mid-2025, bringing between 2,100 to 4,200 construction workers to southwest Wyoming for construction. Once operational, the mine would offer 530 permanent jobs, producing roughly 6 million tons of soda ash annually.
Dry Creek’s final environmental analysis from the Bureau of Land Management is scheduled for release by the end of January 2025, after which the permitting phase could begin, according to Kelly Lamborn, with the Bureau of Land Management.
“Permitting of the actual mine components will take place after the Record of Decision for the EIS has been approved,” Lamborn said in an email to Cowboy State Daily.
Dry Creek is one of two huge trona mine projects in the works for Wyoming’s Trona Patch. The other is WeSoda’s Project West, owned by the Ciner Group. It won’t be affected by the buyout of Ciner’s minority stake in Pacific Soda, Cowboy State Daily has confirmed with WeSoda company officials.
Project West remains on schedule for permits by early next year, after which the project would enter the design phase and could potentially be built 9 to 12 months after that.
WeSoda expects to hire at least 800 construction workers with a peak workforce of up to 1,200, to construct the Project West mine. Once operational, the mine is expected to have a projected 300 permanent jobs, with initial production of 3 million tons of trona annually.
Combined, Pacific Soda and We Soda are creating more than 800 jobs in southwest Wyoming long-term, and producing collectively 9 million more tons of trona. That will go a long way toward filling a projected shortfall of 12 million tons of trona globally, helping maintain a competitive edge for American trona right here in Wyoming.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
