Turkish Firm Offers $285 Million for Stake in Wyoming’s Expanding Trona Mine Industry

Turkish company Sisecam has made a $285 million offer to acquire minority stakes in two key trona mining operations in Wyoming, signaling a significant investment in the state’s soda ash industry, Cowboy State Daily reports.

Sisecam announced plans to purchase Ciner Group’s 20.4% indirect share in Sisecam Wyoming and its 40% non-controlling partnership stake in Pacific Soda.

The acquisition, disclosed on November 29, aligns with Sisecam’s goal of strengthening its global soda ash production capabilities. Sisecam operates in 14 countries across four continents, and the deal would make the company the primary stakeholder in Pacific Soda, which is developing Wyoming’s largest new trona mine.

According to the Wyoming Mining Association’s director, Travis Deti, the move underscores Sisecam’s commitment to investing in Wyoming’s trona reserves, creating jobs, and boosting the state’s economy.

Wyoming is home to the world’s largest known trona reserves, holding 90% of the global supply. Trona, a naturally occurring mineral, is refined into soda ash, which is essential for producing glass, detergents, and more recently, lithium batteries for electric vehicles.

With 40 billion tons of trona reserves, Wyoming could supply the world’s soda ash needs for 2,000 years. In 2023, the industry mined 16.6 million tons of trona, generating $207 million in taxes and royalties and supporting a payroll of $450 million.

The Pacific Soda Dry Creek project is set to become the largest new trona mine in Wyoming once construction begins in mid-2025. The project will create up to 4,200 construction jobs and 530 permanent positions, producing approximately 6 million tons of soda ash annually. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is expected to release the final environmental analysis for Dry Creek by January 2025, after which the permitting process will begin.

Sisecam’s acquisition does not affect WeSoda’s Project West, another large trona mine project owned by Ciner Group. Project West is also moving forward with permits expected early next year and will create around 300 permanent jobs, producing an initial 3 million tons of trona annually.

Together, the Dry Creek and Project West mines are poised to add over 800 permanent jobs and contribute 9 million tons of trona annually, helping to address a projected global shortfall of 12 million tons of soda ash.