General Chemical Corp. Trona Mine and Plant

Producer in Sweetwater county in Wyoming, United States with commodities Sodium, Oil Shale, Halite, Sodium Carbonate, Soda Ash
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Mineral rights holdings
  18. Ownership information
  19. Production statistics
  20. Workings at the site
  21. Links to other databases
  22. Bibliographic references
  23. General comments
  24. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10080548
MRDS ID W031828
Record type Site
Mineralized Area BLM Known Sodium Leasing Area (KSLA)
Current site name General Chemical Corp. Trona Mine and Plant
Alternate or previous names General Chemical Corp. Mine, Green River Facility (General Chemical), Green River Allied Mine, General Chemical Green River Facility, Alchem Trona Mine, Allied Trona, Allied Chemical Corp. Mine, Tata Chemicals North America (formerly General Chemical Industrial Products Inc.)
Included sites Green River Trona District

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -109.75488, 41.59168 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position Location is for main plant buildings close to the 1600 ft. hoist. Actual underground extent covers about 36 sq. miles and extends more than 9 miles north to south and 6 miles east to west.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Sweetwater(county)

Wyoming(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Little America(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Rock Springs(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Rock Springs(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Blacks Fork(hydrologic unit)

Upper Green(hydrologic accounting unit)

Great Divide-Upper Green(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Wyoming Sweetwater

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 019N 109W 29-33 Wyoming
6th Principal 018N 109W Wyoming

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Sodium Primary
Oil Shale Tertiary
Halite Tertiary
Sodium Carbonate Primary
Soda Ash Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • TRONA BEDS GENERALLY OVER 90% PURE. HALITE IN BEDS LESSENS VALUE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Trona Ore
Shortite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Dolomite Gangue
Gaylussite Gangue
Nahcolite Gangue
Halite Unknown
Oil Shale Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) Trona May Be In Part A Diagenetic Product Of Reaction Between Evaporite Minerals And Na-Rich Water From The Weathering Of Andesitic Tuffs Of Green River Formation. Geochemical Studies (Parker, Et Al, 1971) Have Shown That The Green River Was Probably A Source Of Na-Rich Water. Solution Activity And Reorganization Of Material Is Evident Including Enlarged Grainsize And Secondary Redeposition Of Trona (Parker, Et Al, 1971).

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 263
USGS model code Unassigned
Deposit model name Bedded sodium carbonate

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Evaporite
    Rock unit name Green River, Wilkins Peak Member: Trona And Evaporite Bearing Strata
    Rock description Green River, Wilkins Peak Member: Trona And Evaporite Bearing Strata
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -109.75488, 41.59168

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Rock Springs Uplift, East Of Trona Area, Stratigraphic High During Much Of Green River Fm. Depositional Period. It Created A Barrier Restricting Water Circulation And Aiding Evaporite Precipitation.
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Basin And Range Province; Green River Basin; East Of Overthrust Belt, South Of Wind River Mts.

Ore body information

  • Name General Chemical, bed 17
    General form TABULAR: BLANKET
    Thickness 4.57M
    Depth to bottom 487.68M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Chemical Precipitation From Waters Of 15,000 Sq. Mi. Lake Gosiute During 1 Million Yr. Period Of Aridity And Restricted Circulation.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1938
Discoverer Mountain Fuel Supply Co.
Plant type Refiner
Plant subcategory Calcination/Dead Burn
Production years current as of 2009

Mining district

District name Green River Basin
District name Green River Trona District

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Federal Lease
Type of mineral rights State Lease

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Allied Chemical Corp.
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner General Chemical
    Interest 75
    Home office General Chemical Industrial Products 120 Eagle Rock Avenue East Hanover, New Jersey 07936 (800) 819-8568 General Chemical Partners 20 mi west of Green River
    Year 2009
    First year 1968
  • Type Owner
    Owner Tata Chemicals North America (formerly General Chemical Industrial Products Inc.)
    Interest 75
    Home office 100 Enterprise Drive Suite 701 Rockaway, NJ 07866 973 599 5500 Email: info@tatachemicals.com Website: www.tatachemicals.com/north-america/
    Year 2012
    First year 2008
  • Type Owner
    Owner Owens Illinois
    Interest 25
    Home office Regional Headquarters One Michael Owens Way Perrysburg, Ohio, 43551 glass@o-i.com
    Year 2012
  • Type Joint Venture Partner
    Owner Church & Dwight
    Year 2008

Comments on the ownership information

  • Church & Dwight Co., Inc., (churchdwight.com) has a partnership operating agreement with General Chemical. Tata, and Indian Company, owns General Chemical as of 2008 or 2009.

Production statistics

  • Year 2009
    Material More than 4 million tons-per-year of trona are mined.
    Accuracy Estimate
  • Year 2009
    Period 1968- 2008
    Material [per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09]
    Accuracy Accurate

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings General Chemical
    Overall depth 487.68M

Comments on the workings information

  • EMPLOYES 510 PEOPLE. [per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09. Changed from 1,200 people to 510 people] CAPACITY DOUBLED TO 2.2 MILLION TON/YR IN 1975. per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09. Current plant capacity 2,800,000 tons/year.] BETWEEN 1976-1979 $15 MILLION SPENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND SAFETY.

Comments on development

  • VAST DEPOSIT FOUND WHILE DRILLING OIL AND GAS TEST WELL. MAJOR MINE EXPANSION 1976.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
General 3 merged and deleted records contained references as follows: 10230625 (0560370026) reported by IFOC 23-nov-1983: CAMERON ENGINEERS-WYO MINERAL IND REVIEW & FORECAST, 1969 REVISED BY MILS 10-79 10085096 (w700625) reported by Beougher, 1-AUG-1989: MINING MAGAZINE, JANUARY 1989, P. 45 ORE PRODUCTION CAPACITY GREATER THAN 4,500,000 TONNES/YEAR. [per Mac Richardson, Mine Engineering Superintendant, General Chemical, email communication 11/9/09. Changed from 3,000,000 tonnes/year to 4,500,000] 10181634 (0560370516) reported by SDSM 23-nov-1983: WYO GEOL SURV OPEN FILES
Deposit WILKINS PEAK MEMBER OF THE GREEN RIVER FM. HAS OVER 25 EXTENSIVE TRONA BEDS RANGING UP TO 37 FEET THICK AND COVERING AN AREA UP TO 850 SQ. MILES. ELEVEN BEDS ARE OVER 6 FT THICK. A TOTAL OF 50 BILLION TONS OF TRONA ARE ESTIMATED FOR THE AREA.
Deposit PARKER, ET AL, 1971, (REF. 2) GIVES A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF THE GENESIS OF THE GREEN RIVER TRONA DEPOSITS, INCLUDING THE GEOCHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, PALEOENVIRONMENT, AND THE MINING OF TRONA.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1982-05-01 Sutphin, David M. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 1983-11-23 South Dakota School of Mines U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 1983-11-23 Intermountain Field Operations Center (IFOC) U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 1989-08-01 Beougher, Dee (Spanski, Gregory T.) U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 2009-04-03 Wilson, Anna B. U.S. Geological Survey revised 6/6/10

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Current status (per MSHA)

StatusActive since 02/18/1982
MSHA mine ID4800155
Mine name (MSHA)Tata Chemicals Mine
Current operatorTata Chemicals (Soda Ash) Partners LLC
Current controller (parent)Tata Chemicals Ltd
Mine typeUnderground (Metal / non-metal)

MSHA cross-reference per the original MRDS record. Mine status and operator reflect MSHA's last published Mines export (February 2025); MSHA's public bulk feed has been unavailable since, so this may be out of date. See the Mine Data Retrieval System for current status.

Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.