FMC expands Green River soda ash…

摘要

In what is claimed to be the most capital-efficient expansion in the soda ash industry, PMC has embarked on a 45m dollars, 700,000 short tpa expansion of its Green River, Wyoming soda ash operation using proprietary solution mining technology. The basis of the expansion is FMC's proprietary solution mining technology, which has allowed th" company to justify the expansion at current market conditions. The company believes that the process will slash its soda-ash manufacturing costs by 30-40 percent and will allow it to recover trona from previously mined or abandoned stopes, thereby extending the mine life. The expansion promises to raise Green River's production capacity from 2.85m. short tpa to 3.55m. short tpa by 1997. According to FMC, the patented mining method differs from other techniques (such as nahcolite solution mining processes) mainly in the alkali levels used in the mining solutions.