Westvaco Mine and Plant (FMC)

The Westvaco Mine and Plant (FMC) is a sodium carbonate, soda ash, and sodium mine located in Sweetwater county, Wyoming.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Westvaco Mine and Plant (FMC)
Secondary: Westvaco Mine and Facility (FMC)
Secondary: Westvaco Mine (FMC)
Secondary: Westvaco Mine
Secondary: FMC Green River Trona Mine
Secondary: FMC Westvaco Mine #1, #2
Secondary: FMC Westvaco No 6 Mine
Secondary: Green River FMC Mine
Secondary: Intermountain Chemical Co. Mine
Secondary: FMC Westvaco Mill
Secondary: Green River Trona District

Commodity

Primary: Sodium Carbonate
Primary: Soda Ash
Primary: Sodium
Tertiary: Oil Shale

Location

State: Wyoming
County: Sweetwater
District: Green River Trona District

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Intermountain Chemical Company
Years: 1952 -

Owner Name: Fmc Corp.
Info Year: 1978

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Evaporite
Operation Type: Underground
Year First Production: 1952
Discovery Year: 1938
Discovery Method: Drilling
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Wyoming Basin

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: TABULAR: BLANKET

Structure

Type: R
Description: Basin And Range Province; Green River Basin; East Of Overthrust Belt, South Of Wind River Mountains.

Type: L
Description: Rock Springs Uplift, East Of Trona Area, Stratigraphic High During Much Of Green River Fm. Depositional Period. It Created A Barrier Restricting Water Circulation And Aiding Evaporite Precipitation.

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Trona May Be In Part A Diagenetic Product Of Reaction Between Evaporite Minerals And Na-Rich Water From The Weathering Of Andesitic Tuffs Of Green River Formation. Geochemical Studies (Parker, Et Al, 1971) Have Shown That The Green River Was Probably A Source Of Na-Rich Water. Solution Activity And Reorganization Of Material Is Evident Including Enlarged Grainsize And Secondary Redeposition Of Trona (Parker, Et Al, 1971).

Rocks

Name: Evaporite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Eocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Trona
Gangue: Gaylussite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Shortite
Gangue: Northupite
Gangue: Pirssonite
Gangue: Nahcolite
Gangue: Wegscheiderite
Gangue: Dolomite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): WILKINS PEAK MEMBER OF THE GREEN RIVER FORMATION HAS OVER 25 EXTENSIVE TRONA BEDS RANGING UP TO 37 FEET THICK AND COVERING AN AREA UP TO 850 SQ. MILES. ELEVEN BEDS ARE OVER 6 FT. THICK. A TOTAL OF 50 BILLION TONS OF TRONA ARE ESTIMATED FOR THE AREA.

Comment (Commodity): TRONA BEDS GENERALLY OVER 90% PURE. HALITE IN BEDS LESSENS VALUE

Comment (Deposit): PARKER, ET AL, 1971, (REF. 2) GIVES A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF THE GENESIS OF THE GREEN RIVER TRONA DEPOSITS, INCLUDING THE GEOCHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY, PALEOENVIRONMENT, AND THE MINING OF TRONA. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Comment (Development): VAST DEPOSIT FOUND WHILE DRILLING OIL AND GAS TEST WELL. MAJOR MINE EXPANSION 1976.

Comment (Workings): 12/79 FMC ANNOUNCED TECHNILOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH IN SOLUTION MINING THUS CUTTING COSTS IN TRONA MINING. 150 PEOPLE WILL BE NEEDED PER 1 MILLION TONS OF ARE MINED AS OPPOSED TO 450 NEEDED PRESENTLY. (1979)-INCREASING PLANT BY 250,000 TONS OF ANNUAL CAPACITY .

Comment (Development): History of the mine is all scrambled. Fahey, 1962, states that the first well, Joh Hay Jr, Well 1, was drilled in 1938. It is the hole that discovered the trona. The Westvaco mine opened in 1947. This record as it preexisted claims first production was in 1952.

Comment (Production): Ore production capacity greater than 3,000,000 tonnes/year. (Mining Magazine, Jan. 1989, p. 45)

Comment (General): MAS record 0560370023 (newMRDS 10181992) had very little information for the so called "FMC Westvaco Mine #1, #2. It gave the location as T.19N, R. 110W, Sec. 15, SE, reporter as the IFOC 1-12-1983, and "mine n0. 33 IS 1.5 MILES sw OF PLANT" in the references field. Also in the references field was "CAMERON ENGINEERS WYO MINE REVIEW FORECAST 1969." And "REVISED BY MILES 10-79". A.B. Wilson thinks that the mine name refers to the Westvaco wells nos. 1 and 2 (Wiig, Grundy, and Dyni, 1995, USGS OFR 95-476). Mine shaft no. 3 is about 1.5 mi SW of the main plant site, as shown on the Little America quadrangle map. The comment about mine no. 33 is probably a typo.

Comment (Location): Shaft No. 3 is in T. 19N, R110W, sec. 21, SE, SE, SE, SE. Shown and labeled on Little America 7.5' quadrangle map.

Comment (General): FMC Westvaco No 6 Mine [MAS 0560370028, newMRDS 102062993] had non-specific information and no verifiable sources. Reported by IFOC 23-nov-1983. Supposed refs were as follows: MESA MET-NONMET MINE FILE REF ENERGY RESOURCES MAP OF WY OWN/OP DRAVO CORPORATION USBM PROD TABULATIONS. Thus, A.B. Wilson merged this information in 10080547 and deleted the 10206293.

Comment (Production): "By 1957 it [Westvaco Mine] was delivering about two-thirds of the natural soda ash produced in the United States" (Fahey, 1962, p. 1)

Comment (General): Intermountain Chemical Co Mine (MAS 0560370163, newMRDS 10181864) record created by IFOC on 23-nov-1983 contains no additional information other than a reference to Bradley and Eugster, 1969, USGS PP-496B. A planning document on the city of Rock Springs, WY, website (www.rswy.net) states: "Food Machinery Corporation operatin under its wholly-owned division Intermountain Chemical Company, built a $15 million plant at Westvaco, some 16 miles west of Green River in 1952. A series of mines, refineries and expansion occurred between 1962 and 1982." Therefore, A.B. Wilson concludes that this is another name for the Westvaco (FMC) mine.

Comment (Deposit): Deposit was discovered by drilling the John Hay, Jr., well no. 1. A.B. Wilson changed discovery method from "Mineral in place" to "drilling".

References

Reference (Production): Mining Magazine, Jan. 1989, p. 45.

Reference (Deposit): PARKER, R.B, ed., 1971, Contribuitions to Geology--Trona Issue: Larmie, Wyoming, Univ. of Wyoming, v. 10, no. 1, p. 1-72.

Reference (Deposit): Wigg, Grundy, and Dynni, 1995, Trona resources in the Green river basin, southwest Wyoming: USGS OFR 95-476, 88 p.

Reference (Deposit): WYO GEOL SURV OPEN FILES [newMRDS 10133390, MAS 0560370519]

Reference (Deposit): Bradley, W.H., and Eugster, H.P., 1969, USGS Professional Paper 496B, p. 9, 17, 35.

Reference (Deposit): CAMERON ENGINEERS WYO MINE FORECAST 1969

Reference (Deposit): FAHEY, J.J., 1962, Saline minerals of the Green River Formation: USGS Professional Paper 405, 50 p.

Reference (Deposit): Dyni, J.R., and Jones, R.W., eds., 1998, Proceedings of the First International Soda Ash Conference, Vol. II: Wyoming State Geological Survey Public Information Circular No. 40, 215 p.

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