Southwest Wyoming—specifically the Green River Basin in Sweetwater County—proudly claims the title of the “Trona Capital of the World.” Holding an estimated 127 billion tons of the mineral, Wyoming’s natural trona deposits are processed into soda ash, a foundational chemical used to manufacture glass, detergents, baking soda, and increasingly, components for lithium-ion batteries.
Today, soda ash is Wyoming’s top international export, generating roughly $1.5 billion annually. As the state looks to diversify its economy and absorb workers transitioning away from a declining coal sector, the trona industry is experiencing a massive period of structural evolution, regulatory breakthroughs, and ownership shifts.
Regulatory Greenlight: The Dry Creek Project
The biggest boost to the industry came in May 2025, when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officially approved the massive Dry Creek Trona Mine Project.
The Scale: Operated by Pacific Soda, the project targets deep beds of trona roughly 2,300 feet below the surface.
The Method: Unlike traditional room-and-pillar physical mining, Dry Creek will heavily utilize solution mining (injecting fluid underground to dissolve the trona and pumping the brine back up), a technique that offers a lower environmental footprint.
Economic Impact: The project is expected to create up to 2,000 construction jobs and 300 high-paying, full-time operational jobs, ultimately yielding six million metric tons of marketable soda ash annually.
Corporate Shakeups and Labor Relations
The corporate landscape in the Green River Basin has seen rapid transformation. London-based global giant WE Soda acquired Genesis Alkali’s prominent trona and soda ash operations.
While the transition initially led to a wave of corporate and contractor layoffs in early 2025 as the global soda ash market experienced a temporary demand dip, the long-term workforce outlook has stabilized. In March 2026, United Steel Workers Local 13214 successfully reached an $800,000 overtime settlement with the new WE Soda management, signaling a much more collaborative era of labor relations and an emphasis on operational efficiency moving forward.
Green Energy and the Future Outlook
With reserves estimated to last more than 2,300 years at current extraction rates, sustainability and energy efficiency have taken center stage.
Nuclear Innovation: Companies like Tata Chemicals are actively exploring shifting away from coal-fired operations toward nuclear-based energy to power their refinement plants.
Global Advantage: Because natural trona processing requires significantly less energy and produces a much smaller carbon footprint than synthetic soda ash (manufactured primarily in Europe and Asia), Wyoming producers hold a distinct competitive and environmental advantage in a decarbonizing global market.
Despite short-term market fluctuations and corporate consolidations, Wyoming’s subterranean “white gold” is firmly positioned for a high-tech, multi-billion-dollar expansion.