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Trona resources in southwest Wyoming

Nonrenewable Resources
By: , , and 
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02263381

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Abstract

Bedded trona (Na2CO3??NaHCO3??2H2O) in the lacustrine Green River Formation of Eocene age in the Green River Basin, southwest Wyoming, constitutes the largest known resource of natural sodium carbonate in the world. In this study, 116 gigatons (Gt) of trona ore are estimated to be present in 22 beds, ranging from 1.2 to 11 meters (m) in thickness. Of this total, 69 Gt of trona ore are estimated to be in beds containing less than 2 percent halite and 47 Gt in beds containing 2 or more percent halite. These 22 beds underlie areas of about 130 to more than 2,000 km2 at depths ranging from about 200 m to more than 900 m below the surface. The total resource of trona ore in the basin for which drilling information is available is estimated to be about 135 Gt. Underveloped trona beds in the deeper southern part of the basin may be best developed by solution mining. Additional unevaluated sodium carbonate resources are present in disseminated shortite (Na2CO3??2CaCO3) in strata interbedded with the trona and in shallow sodium carbonate brines in the northeast part of the basin. Estimates of the shortite and brine resources were not made. ?? 1995 Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

Dyni, J.R., Wiig, S., Grundy, W., 1995, Trona resources in southwest Wyoming: Nonrenewable Resources, v. 4, no. 4, p. 340-352, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02263381.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Trona resources in southwest Wyoming
Series title Nonrenewable Resources
DOI 10.1007/BF02263381
Volume 4
Issue 4
Year Published 1995
Language English
Publisher location Kluwer Academic Publishers
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Nonrenewable Resources
First page 340
Last page 352
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