Trona resources in southwest Wyoming |
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Authors: | John R. Dyni Stephen V. Wiig W. D. Grundy |
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Affiliation: | (1) Denver Federal Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25406, MS939 Denver, Colorado 80225, USA;(2) U.S. Bureau of Land Management, P. O. Box 1869, 82902 Rock Springs, Wyoming, USA |
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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. |
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Keywords: | Trona Green River Formation Wyoming Resource assessment |
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