Searles Valley Minerals Trona Plant
Large load · 13200 MAIN ST, Trona, CA
Searles Valley Minerals runs a mineral and chemical operation at Searles Lake near Trona, California, which 5E Advanced Materials describes as one of only two operating borate production complexes in the United States. Procurement Resource reports the company has kept a 150-year continuous mining history on the site, with more than 9,000 acres of brine resources. Nirma of India has owned the business since 2008, and operations run through Searles Valley Minerals Operations, Inc. In February 2026 the company gave notice that it would idle its Trona and Argus operations, and in September 2026 it agreed to sell certain assets to 5E Advanced Materials in a court-supervised sale expected to close in October 2026.
Overview
Searles Valley Minerals operates out of three distinct locations in and around Trona and is overseen by a corporate office in Overland Park, Kansas. Since 2008 it has been owned by the Indian company Nirma. Operations at Trona pertain almost entirely to mining natural soda ash and extracting boric acid, salt cake, sodium carbonate and specialty forms of borax and salt from Searles Lake. A Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District permit to operate for the SVM Trona Plant, held by Searles Valley Minerals Operations, Inc, expires at the end of December 2026. A local report says energy purchases at present account for nearly half of the facility's expenses, which the report says puts the company at a disadvantage to producers outside California.
Profile
- February 2026 idling notice
- A WARN notice dated February 6, 2026 says Searles Valley Minerals is idling its Trona and Argus operations starting April 8, 2026, with an anticipated 350 or more employee separations. The notice gives April 7, 2026 as the separation date and says the separations are expected to be permanent. The Argus operation is named alongside Trona in that notice. The local report ties the cuts to foreign-government subsidized underpricing of a primary product and to California's rising energy prices. Westend and Argus are the plants that the 2026 sale later covers.
- Sale to 5E Advanced Materials
- On September 15, 2026, 5E Advanced Materials announced an agreement to acquire certain assets of Searles Valley Minerals through a court-supervised sale under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The deal includes the Westend and Argus plants, roughly 9,000 acres of brine resources, the Trona Railway, and local water utility infrastructure. 5E said it expects to maintain operations in Trona, California without interruption and to retain a meaningful portion of the operating employees. Procurement Resource reported that closing was expected in October 2026, pending Bankruptcy Court and Surface Transportation Board approval, and that the announcement makes no mention of resuming soda ash production.
Facility
- Activity
- Refined borates, boric acid, sodium sulfate and salt
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Related records
Timeline
- Jan 1, 2008
- Nirma acquires Searles Valley Minerals (source gives the year only).
Trona Mining Company To Lay Off More Than Half Of Its Workforce | SBCSentinel
- Feb 6, 2026
- WARN notice: idling of Trona and Argus operations starting April 8, 2026.
Searles Valley Minerals Closes 350+ Employees Given 60 Day Notice - Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News - The Community's News
- Sep 15, 2026
- 5E Advanced Materials announces agreement to acquire certain assets; says Trona operations to be maintained.
5E Advanced Materials Enters into Agreement to Acquire Certain Assets of Searles Valley Minerals | Newswire
- Sep 23, 2026