Wyoming
From toothpaste to beer bottles to industrial batteries, the world relies on Wyoming’s ‘white gold’
By Dustin Bleizeffer
GREEN RIVER, Wyo. — After a four-minute elevator descent into the bowels of southwest Wyoming, dropping deep enough to bury the Empire State Building, a Tata Chemicals trona miner drove two Wyoming journalists in a truck 8.5 miles through catacombs, crossing under unaware motorists on Interstate 80 above, to where a crew was using an electric boring machine to chew into a wall of trona.
The visitors — briefed on safety protocols and equipped with underground attire and emergency devices — trudged through fresh mud bubbling with methane. Sections were added to a chartreuse inflatable tube that unrolled like a party favor and blew fresh air at the miners, who had just finished patching a small water line break.
Beams of light from hard hats swiveled and sparred in the tunnel as the earth moaned and machinery hummed. Soon, the machinery funneled a stream of sandwich-sized chunks of trona onto a fast-moving conveyor that would eventually deliver it to the surface to be processed into a fine, white powder and shipped around the world.
Have you ever brushed your teeth with toothpaste? Drank beer from a bottle or stared at the road through a car windshield? The white stuff — sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) to be precise — calms your heartburn and washes your socks. Check under your sink. Take a look in your bathroom cabinet. Many of those taken-for-granted products you use daily require an ingredient sourced from the depths of southwest Wyoming, and the sweat of underground miners.
Tata’s mine, along with its soda ash processing facilities at the surface, is among four such operations in Wyoming — all clustered in an area near the towns of Green River and Granger. Combined, they produce about 10 million tons of soda ash annually and feed 90% of the nation’s soda ash consumption. Wyoming producers make up more than 14% of the global market, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Soda ash, in fact, accounts for more than half of Wyoming’s global commodity exports with a whopping $1.3 billion worth of shipments annually, according to industry officials and state economists.
Wyoming coal can’t say that. Not even close.
Despite the industry’s global importance and massive operations, employing some 2,500 workers in the state, it plods along without much fanfare. Unless you live in the region, you might not even know about trona or its role in everyday life.
“If you’re in Cheyenne and you say ‘trona’ or ‘soda ash,’ a lot of people will say, ‘What’s that?’” said longtime Green River resident Stan Blake who served as House District 39 representative from 2007 to 2020. The business, perhaps, is guilty of being kind of boring, or simply void of political drama, Blake suggested. “It’s just been steady for years and years, so it doesn’t get talked about much.”
It was a mystery, even to many who began their careers in coal mining and wound up at this trona mine. “I wasn’t even aware of trona until I came to Wyoming,” said Mine Electrical Planner Kale Pitt. When asked about the significance of the industry, another Tata miner said, “Other than they make glass and soap out of it, that’s about all I know. It’s a good way to make a living, I guess.”
The miner turned his headlamp and went back to the business at hand.
He was spot on, in Blake’s estimation, who was never a trona miner himself. He spent more than 30 years on the rails and in train yards rather than chipping at trona in Wyoming’s subterranean, but he knows his Green River neighbors and notices toys in driveways.
“The level of lifestyle out here is higher, probably, than a lot of other places in the state,” Blake said. “It seems like everybody’s got a boat and they go out to Flaming Gorge and fish. And everybody — all the miners — like to hunt. The [trona] mines are really, really relevant here in Sweetwater County, that’s for sure.”
Perhaps less glorious than coal, less loud than oil, there are changes afoot in the trona industry with implications, both good and potentially not so good, for Wyoming.
Optimism and expansion
Baking soda and Range Rover windshields aside, Wyoming trona mine owners have been scrambling to meet new opportunities while bracing for headwinds.
On the opportune side, there’s wildly escalating demand for batteries and solar energy panels across the globe, according to industry reports. Though the business of toothpaste and baking soda doesn’t change much, global manufacturers are keen on ramping up production of energy components vital to meeting low-carbon initiatives. They can’t do it without more trona processed into soda ash. And Wyoming has a lot of trona — the largest known deposit in the world, according to industry and federal officials. Ninety percent of the world’s mineable, or “natural,” trona ore is right here in southwest Wyoming, they say.
“The world has an insatiable appetite for soda ash,” said Wyoming Tata’s Director of Governmental Affairs Jon Conrad, also a former Wyoming legislator. By Conrad’s estimation, the industry in Wyoming aims to expand — perhaps even double production in the next eight or so years.
In addition to Tata’s plans to crank out more soda ash while trimming its cost of production, neighboring producer WE Soda — with a larger operation than Tata’s — has launched a multi-billion-dollar expansion that’s crossing permitting milestones. A big part of that effort, “Project West,” will include “solution” mining, or pumping water into the trona deposits to flush the material to the surface rather than sending legions of boat-owning miners underground, according to the company.
Federal regulators also recently advanced permitting for a potential fifth trona operation in the region — Pacific Soda’s proposed Dry Creek Trona Mine project, which would also pull trona via water injection-and-return wells. The operation would create an estimated additional 300 full-time jobs in the region, according to the company.
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Miners discuss plans while standing next to a mobile conveyor at Tata Chemicals’ underground trona mine in southwest Wyoming. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)All of that optimism and investment, however, might stand a little broadside to some shifting market and political winds.
Shifting markets
Wyoming’s trona industry has, for decades, won an advantage for producing “natural” soda ash. It’s pretty simple: mine the rocks, crush them, dissolve and dehydrate the mineral and ship it to customers. But for the past couple of decades, China and Turkey have ramped up production of synthetic soda ash — a product derived from flushing sodium carbonate-containing material from more prevalent, less pure deposits.
Synthetic soda ash threatens to beat out natural soda ash on price, according to industry officials. Though Wyoming producers claim their product is superior for both its quality and lower-carbon footprint, natural soda ash producers must find efficiencies to lower their cost of production.
Solution mining is one major cost-efficiency strategy, according to Conrad. Another is finding alternatives to expensive electrical power and other forms of energy.
Mining trona and processing it into soda ash requires a lot of electricity — about a continuous 32 megawatts at Tata Chemicals, according to the company. One megawatt is enough electricity to power about 750 homes. Tata produces about 90% of its own electricity, via coal and natural gas burners, which also generate steam used in the refining process. But the operation relies on utility provider Rocky Mountain Power for the rest of its electricity needs, and those costs keep climbing. Tata wants to reduce or eliminate its reliance on Rocky Mountain Power by incorporating nuclear energy.
Last year, the company inked a letter of intent with BWXT Advanced Technologies to install up to eight nuclear microreactors on site, boosting Tata’s self-produced electrical power to about 40 megawatts — enough to meet expansion plans without increasing its reliance on Rocky Mountain Power. “The microreactors offer a carbon-free, reliable source of energy that can support [Tata Chemicals’] operations and contribute to the state’s energy portfolio,” the company said in a prepared statement.
But even the industry’s best-laid plans to increase its competitive edge could be derailed by politics. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars take particular aim at China, which accounts for about 10% of Wyoming soda ash sales. If the country retaliates with its own tariffs, it could be a major blow to the industry, according to University of Wyoming Associate Professor of Economics Rob Godby. It might even dampen the industry’s plans to expand operations.
“That could be a really significant impact on our [soda ash] exports,” Godby said.
Back underground, Mine Production Supervisor Eric Castillon proudly described a continual process of increasing production efficiencies in a never-ending effort to sustain the company’s competitive edge.
“This is the trona capital of the world,” Castillon said over the hum of a mobile conveyor carrying rock to the surface. “I can see this mine going for another 50 to 100 years. Trona’s not going anywhere, as long as there’s a need for it.”
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
Related
The Platte County Attorney’s Office has nearly doubled the possible penalties for a Wyoming reporter accused of forging exhibits in an environmental case tied to her staunch opposition to a wind farm.
The 10 new counts against April Marie Morganroth, also known as the Wyoming-based reporter Marie Hamilton, allege that she convinced her landlords that she’d been approved for a home loan to buy their property, and grants to upgrade it.
Hamilton was already facing 10 felony charges in a March 9 Wheatland Circuit Court case, as she’s accused of submitting forged documents and lying under oath before the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council.
That’s an environmental permitting panel that granted a permit to a NextEra Resources wind farm, which Hamilton has long opposed. She’s also reported on NextEra’s efforts and the community controversies surrounding those.
Then on Wednesday, Platte County Attorney Douglas Weaver filed 10 more felony charges: five alleging possession of forged writing, and five more alleging forgery.
The former is punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines; the latter by up to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Hamilton faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted of all charges in her March 9 case. The March 25 case would add up to 75 years more to that.
Both cases are ongoing.
Hamilton did not immediately respond to a voicemail request for comment left Thursday afternoon on her cellphone. She bonded out of jail earlier this month. The Platte County Detention Center said Thursday it does “not have her here.”
The Investigative Efforts Of Benjamin Peech
Converse County Sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Peech investigated both cases at the request of Platte County authorities, court documents say.
When he was investigating evidence that Hamilton submitted forged documents and lied under oath for Industrial Siting Council proceedings, Peech also pursued Hamilton’s claim that she owned property on JJ Road, and that she’d bought it with a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.
The property, however, is registered under Platte County’s mapping system to a couple surnamed Gillis, says a new affidavit Peech signed March 19, which was filed Wednesday.
Peech spoke with both husband and wife, and they said they had the home on the market to sell it, and Hamilton contacted them in about July of 2025.
Hamilton told the pair that she and her husband wished to buy the property and were pre-qualified for a USDA loan through Neighbor’s Bank, wrote Peech.
But the property didn’t meet the standard of the loan, Hamilton reportedly continued. Still, she’d been approved for a USDA grant to work on the problems with the property and bring it up to the standards to qualify for the loan, she allegedly told the homeowners.
Papers
Hamilton provided the couple and their realtor with letters from USDA showing her loan pre-approval and grant approvals, the affidavit says.
During the lease period that followed, Hamilton was late “often” with rent and didn’t provide the couple with work logs until pressed, Peech wrote.
In early 2026, the lieutenant continued, the homeowners became concerned and asked Hamilton about her progress improving the property.
Hamilton reportedly sent the homeowners two invoices from contractors, showing she’d paid for work to be done. She said the wind had delayed that work, wrote Peech.
The affidavit says the Gillis couple sent Peech the documents Hamilton had reportedly given them, along with supporting emails showing those had come from one of Hamilton’s email addresses.
The Loan approval documents showed the respective logos for USDA Rural Development and Neighbor’s Bank at the top of each page, the lieutenant wrote, adding that the documents assert that Hamilton and her husband had been approved for the loan.
“There was then a list of items that needed to be completed — 14 items — prior to Final Loan Approval,” related Peech in the affidavit.
A signature at the bottom reportedly read, “Sincerely, USDA Rural Development Neighbors Bank Joshua Harris Homebuying Specialist.”
Grant Document
The documents purporting Hamilton had received a grant also showed the USDA Rural Development logo at the top of each page, with the names of Hamilton and her husband, other boilerplate language and a description of a $35,000 home buyer’s grant.
The project was about 65% complete at the time of review, the document adds, according to Peech’s narrative.
Peech describes more documents: a January notice, an invoice bearing the logo and name of “Cowgirl Demolition and Excavation, LLC,” and another invoice bearing the logo and name of “Pete’s Builders Roofing and Restoration.”
Real Estate Agent
Peech spoke with the Gillises’ real estate agent, Kay Pope, and she said she’d tried to verify the USDA grant and pre-approval by calling Susan Allman, who was listed in the documents as the Casper-based USDA agent. Pope left several messages without response, the affidavit says.
Pope spoke with Hamilton’s real estate agent, and he said he’d spoken to Allman, and he gave Pope a phone number.
Cowboy State Daily has identified Hamilton’s real estate agent and tried to contact him for further clarification.
Pope called that number and left messages without response, wrote Peech.
Peech then called a USDA Rural Development office and spoke with a Janice Blare, deputy state director, he wrote.
Peech sent the three USDA letters to Blare and gave her “all of Hamilton’s names and aliases,” he added.
The lieutenant wrote that Blare later told him the USDA investigated the letters and determined no evidence existed to show the USDA had issued them.
No records existed either, of Hamilton “using all her alias permutations” or her husband within either the USDA loan program or grant program, wrote Peech.
The USDA didn’t have an office at the address listed in two of the letters. The address pertains, rather, to a dirt lot. The USDA Rural Development office didn’t have a program titled “Rural Communities Home Buyer Program” as listed on two of the letters.
On Nov. 6, 2025, the date of the first letter purporting Hamilton had been approved for the grant program, all U.S. government offices including USDA were on furlough, noted Peech from his discussion with Blare.
A person named Susan Allman didn’t appear in USDA’s employee records, Blare reportedly added.
The Phone Call
Peech called the cellphone number one of the letters listed for Allman, “and this was disconnected,” he wrote.
The number Hamilton’s real estate agent had given was a voice over internet protocol number that Bandwidth LLC operates but is assigned to Google, added Peech.
Meanwhile, Converse County Investigator Amber Peterson spoke with the construction and roofing companies listed in the documents.
Chad Derenzo of Pete’s Roofing confirmed the logo and name listed on the documents were his company’s own — but said his company hadn’t issued the bid listed in those documents, according to the affidavit.
“Their company had never contracted to do work for Hamilton or at the… JJ Road address,” the document says.
The invoice also bore an address in Torrington, Wyoming, and his company doesn’t have a Torrington office, said Derenzo, reportedly.
Jessica Loge of Cowgirl Demolition and Excavation gave similar statements, saying the documents bore her logo, but her company hadn’t issued the bid or contracted with Hamilton.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
Wyoming
Wyoming State Parks announces pause on potential visitor center project at Sinks Canyon State Park
Wyoming
Coyote Flats Fire near containment as critical fire danger hits Black Hills, Wyoming counties
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The grass is starting to return in the Black Hills, but the damage left behind by last week’s wildfire is still visible beneath the surface. The Coyote Flats Fire is now almost completely contained, but fire officials say the work for crews who battled the flames is far from finished.
“It’s been a long week,” said Gail Schmidt, fire chief for the Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department. Schmidt said firefighters worked the Coyote Flats Fire for multiple days as the blaze forced hundreds of people to leave their homes.
Schmidt also warned the timing is concerning.
“It’s early,” she said. “It’s early — and that’s the more concerning part. We haven’t even hit summer yet.”
Some of the same crews, Schmidt said, have moved from the Black Hills to a second wildfire — the Qury (pronounced “Koo-RAY”) Fire. That fire has burned nearly 9,200 acres and was holding at 70% containment as of Monday.
Between multiple wildfires and routine emergency calls, Schmidt said the pace doesn’t slow down.
“The world does not stop just because there was a fire,” she said. “Life continues. We still have our day jobs that we need to go take care of.”
Another challenge arrives Wednesday, with critical fire danger forecast across the Black Hills and into parts of Wyoming, including Sheridan, Campbell, Crook and Weston counties. Forecast conditions include wind gusts up to 40 mph and humidity as low as 12%.
Schmidt said she believes fire lines are in good shape, but she’s watching the weather closely after recent high-wind events.
“Saturday night, 50 mile an hour winds — that was multiple days ago, and there’s been a lot of work done since,” she said. “I personally am pretty confident that we’re going to be able to hold this fire through today.”
While spring is typically the region’s wetter season — which can help reduce fire behavior — Schmidt urged residents not to become complacent as wildfire season ramps up.
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