Green River Basin, Wyoming: Trona Capital of the World
The Green River area of Sweetwater County, Wyoming is undeniably the “trona capital of the world”. With the largest reserves of naturally-occurring trona on earth, the Green River Basin contains enough trona to supply the world for the next several hundred years. Approximately 67 billion tons of trona ore extend over a 1,000 square mile area here at depths of up to a third of a mile. Also known as sodium sesquicarbonate, trona is the raw material that is refined into soda ash. Soda ash, in turn, is used to make a variety of different products ranging from glass containers to household detergents to baking soda.
Soda ash has been used in manufacturing for over 5000 years. Ancient Egyptians recovered the product from dry lake-bed deposits or manufactured it by burning seaweed and other marine plants. This product was used to make glass ornaments and vessels. The Romans also used soda ash for baking bread, making glass, and for medicinal purposes.
The trona found in the Green River Basin was created by an ancient body of water known as Lake Gosiute. Over time, the lake shrunk. With the loss of outflows from the lake, highly alkaline salt brine began to evaporate, depositing beds of trona. Today, Southwestern Wyoming contains the world's largest known bed of trona.