Strategic Sources of Sodium in North America
Rock salt, also known as the mineral halite, and soda ash, known as the mineral trona, are the two main sources of sodium in North America. An industrial process to extract the sodium metal from rock salt was invented in the 1920s. It is known as the Down's process. The main part of that process is an electrolysis of molten salt that separates its two main ingredients: sodium and chlorine. A special apparatus called a Down's cell is used and consists of a rectangular container of steel in which sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) are separated from the fused salt through an electrochemical reaction at high temperature.
As for soda ash, which is a form of sodium carbonate, it is mainly mined in the Green River Basin, in southwest Wyoming, in the form of a mineral known as trona. The Green River Basin, where four major mines operate, is home to the world's largest reserves of trona ore.[1]
The distance between the soda ash mines in Wyoming in relation to the future sodium-ion plant in Holland, Michigan (2,200 kilometres) places the Green River Basin operators at a disadvantage when compared with the location of the Windsor salt mine which is only 300 kilometres away from the Michigan battery plant and 180 kilometres from the St. Thomas Volkswagen battery plant, almost 10 times closer in distance (see map below). The Goderich salt mine is also close, some 450 km from Holland and 132 km from St. Thomas, however Goderich does not have a deepwater port which makes transportation of rock salt by boat more difficult. The entire Michigan-Ontario area is also serviced by major highways, railway lines and shipping lanes connecting St. Thomas and Holland to Windsor. The Windsor Salt mine in particular has a deep port capable of loading ships with 30,000 tons of rock salt which can be moved on Lake Huron to Lake Michigan to get to the Holland Michigan facility or St. Thomas facility that is being built, not to mention the new LG/Stellantis battery plant which is under construction in Windsor itself.
Location
map of soda ash mines in Wyoming (left), Natron-Clarios
sodium-ion
plant in Michigan (centre-right) and Ojibway salt mine in
Windsor,
Ontario (right).
The demand of the workers of Canada and the U.S. that electrification serve the people and the protection of the natural environment is the biggest factor for ensuring that the advances in technology which are taking place at this time are put at the disposal of humanizing both the natural and social environment. In this respect, the strike of Windsor Salt workers in Windsor, Ontario in defence of their union and its standards represents a line in the sand drawn by Canadian workers who say critical mineral resources should be extracted in a sustainable manner which upholds the health, safety and dignity of the workers and contributes to the well-being of the people and the environment.
The potential for salt to be used in the production of electric batteries rather than lithium which is much harder to mine is a positive development. The workers in both the U.S. and Canada will make a big contribution by arguing out how this resource can be developed and under whose control so that it can be put at the disposal of nation-building rather than destroying the standards workers have given rise to in the mining sector.
Salt being removed from Windsor Salt by strikebreakers during
salt workers' fight to defend their rights.
Note
1. The four major mining companies that extract trona ore in Wyoming produced about 11.1 million tons of soda ash in 2005. They are:
- Genesisalkali, owned by Genesis Energy based in Houston Texas, which produces annually 3.6 million metric tons of soda ash and derivative products for different forms of glass.
- Sisecam Wyoming, owned by Sisecam, a conglomerate of companies based in Turkey, which also has operations in the Balkans and the United States. It mainly specializes in the production of varieties of glass products made from soda ash, but is also involved in the electrical energy sector and natural gas market in Turkey. Its website notes that "Sisecam is the world's second largest producer of soda ash." At present, its U.S. operations have a total annual production capacity of 5 million tons that is expected to increase to 10 million tons through a 2021 buyout of Ciner Resources.
- Solvay Chemicals, owned by Solvay S.A., is a chemical manufacturing conglomerate based out of Brussels, Belgium that specializes in thermoplastic composites applied to the automotive and aerospace industries. Its U.S. production of soda ash and derivative products is geared mostly towards the glass and chemical industries, the food processing and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as in livestock feed. It began production in 2021.
- Tata Chemicals Soda Ash Partners, owned by the Indian comglomerate monopoly Tata, that operates a mine in the Green River area in Wyoming, with more than 4.5 million tonnes per year of trona ore that is processed into soda ash at its surface refining plant.
This article was published in
Number 25 - May 10, 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10256.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca