Our formula for success.

When OCI was founded, we set out to create a unique corporate paradigm — a culture based on solid values and strong character. Our vision was to be a company everyone would like to work for and buy from — a people-oriented company known for its drive, values, integrity, and core competence. In making that vision a reality, we have succeeded in fulfilling our mission to be the best, most-respected chemical company in the world.

From soda ash to sodium percarbonate, it all starts with trona.

It may sound like a far away planet, but trona is actually a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, and water known chemically as sodium sesqui-carbonate (Na₂CO₃NaHCO₃2H₂O). Trona is also the most commonly found sodium carbonate mineral — and the richest source of soda ash. (Soda ash also occurs in many kinds of mineral waters and in the mineral deposits of certain springs and lake brines.)

The world's largest, purest, and most accessible trona deposit is located in the Green River Basin of Southwestern Wyoming. Wyoming's rich trona deposits are the residue of an immense lake — Lake Gosiute — that covered the southwestern part of the state 50 million years ago. Over millions of years, Lake Gosiute expanded and contracted in response to changes in the region's climate. During one lengthy period, the lake was predominantly saline, and it shrank to such an extent that large deposits of trona and occasionally halite (sodium chloride) were left behind. The trona at OCI's Green River complex is mined like coal. Circular shafts sunk deep in the earth provide access to the ore, and room and pillar mining are employed to prevent caving and subsidence. OCI's trona beds are relatively shallow, about 850 feet deep, compared to our competitors' at as much as 2,000 feet. The difference in depth and conveying distance — managed in conjunction with OCI's continuous mining methods — allow OCI to maintain a long-term competitive advantage over other trona mines and mining methods.

Trona is refined to produce OCI’s various grades of soda ash. Soda ash is also used to create our sodium percarbonate products.