About this time last year, I wrote a little primer on a not very well-known but critically important hard rock mineral, trona – read the full post here.  You may remember that my home state of Wyoming has the world's largest deposit of trona and that after trona is processed, it is commonly known as "soda ash."

I have also been writing about the drastic impact the downturn in the energy industry has had on Wyoming. Not just the downturn in oil and gas but also the downturn in coal, has hit Wyoming hard – a state that has been historically heavily reliant on the energy industry for revenue.  Here are some of those prior posts to bring you up to speed:

This morning, trona was in the headlines. The Casper Star Tribune ran an article entitled, "Wyoming Soda Ash Producers Lobby for Level Playing Field."  Here is a summary of what you need to know:

  1. Trona is critically important to the Wyoming economy.

The soda ash industry in Wyoming provides thousands of stable, safe, well-paying and valuable jobs to the state's economy. According to the Wyoming Mining Association ("WMA"), the trona industry employed 2,483 people in 2015.  Now that may not seem like many people – but remember that in 2015 the census estimated the entire state's population to be 586,107.  Also, I think that 2,483 people is a low figure – if you consider all of the individuals that rely on the trona industry in Wyoming for business, from local fabricators, truck drivers, stores that sell boots and personal protective equipment, bus drivers, etc., that number is definitely much higher.

In addition, trona itself is important. The Federal Reserve Board uses soda ash as a national economic indicator and trona is Wyoming's top international export, according to the WMA.  Baking powder, baking soda, glass, fertilizers, medicines and paper all come from soda ash – it is a very significant piece of rock in our every day lives.

  1. What is the American Soda Ash Competitiveness Act?

It is a bill sponsored by Wyoming Senator, John Barrasso, that proposes a means to keep Wyoming soda ash competitive with China's product by temporarily reducing the federal royalty rate on soda ash to 2% for a period of 5 years.  The full text of the bill that was introduced as of September 15, 2015 can be found here.

The bill has reportedly sat idle in committee since late 2015 and Senator Barrasso has endeavored to pursue getting the measure passed.  It will prove critically important to the Wyoming economy, which could use a little help right now.

  1. Why is this bill so important to Wyoming?

As stated above, Wyoming is sitting on the world's largest deposit of trona and there is so much of the mineral underground (about 40 tons of recoverable product) that the WMA predicts that Wyoming's trona reserves will last over 2,000 years.

The bad news is in the competition. China has been increasing exports of soda ash despite its economy contracting, and this change in market balance has reportedly started to impact Wyoming.  China also produces a synthetic soda ash product.

The bill is aimed to combat market advantages that China has over the U.S.

Stay tuned – we will keep you posted on how this bill progresses.

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