TRONA mining in Wyoming began 50 years ago in 1947 by Westvaco Chlorine Products at the site of the present FMC mine.

               BEDDED trona was discovered in a core from oil drilled in 1938 just south of Westvaco, Wyoming.

               A recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the total reserve is 127 billion tons of trona and mixed trona and halite in beds 4 feet or more thick. This is enough trona to supply U.S. demand at current production rates for 6,684 years, and world demand for about 2,000 years.

               THE world’s largest known resource of natural sodium carbonate is found in 22 beds of natural trona within the Wilkins Peak member of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Green River Basin of southwestern Wyoming.

               THERE are five producing companies, FMC, General Soda Ash Partners, OCI, Solvay Minerals, and Tg Soda Ash. Three other companies have leased trona properties from the Federal Government: Wold Trona, Church & Dwight, and Rock Springs Realty Company, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Resources.

               WYOMING produces 90% of the soda ash produced in the United States and more than 50% of the World’s supply.

               WYOMING produced 15,500,000 short tons of mined trona in 1996.  The average priced of soda ash in the United States was 82.60 per short ton.

IN 1996, 3022 people were directly employed by the trona mining companies.

BESIDES the manufacture of soda ash from glass, trona companies also produce baking soda, baking powder, sodium cyanide, and sodium phosphate, among the many value-added products of trona.

IN LIGHT OF THESE FACTS, THEREFORE, I, JIM GERINGER, governor of the State of Wyoming, do hereby proclaim 1997, to be

“YEAR OF COMMEMORATION FOR THE

50^TH YEAR OF SODA ASH PRODUCTION”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Wyoming to be affixed this 12^th date of May, 1997.