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On the evening of May 14, Zhongyan Chemical Industry issued a statement announcing its intention to invest 25.283 billion yuan in the construction of a comprehensive development project for natural soda ash mineral resources at Zhongyan (Inner Mongolia) Soda Ash Industry Co., Ltd., with an annual production capacity of 5 million tons. In 2021, natural soda deposits were discovered during oil and gas exploration and development in Naiman Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia. The announcement states that the natural soda mineral reserves in the Daqintaola area of Naiman Banner amount to 1.447 billion tons; the resource volume with a salt content of ≤9.54% is 521 million tons, while the total amount of associated natural soda minerals is 926 million tons. The ore seams are well-developed, with a single-layer thickness ranging from 0.2 meters to 30.26 meters; the thickness of these seams is particularly significant, making this the largest reserve of underground natural soda ash resources discovered in China to date. On July 9, 2025, China Salt Alkali Industry successfully won the mining rights for natural soda ash at this mine for 6.8 billion yuan. On September 5, Zhongyan Jianye brought in strategic investors through the public market. The company, together with Shandong Haihua Co., Ltd., Inner Mongolia Mengyan Chemical Industry Investment Co., Ltd., and the National Adjustment Fund, holds shares in the ratio of 51%, 29%, 10%, and 10% respectively, to work together on the development of the project. The total planned investment for this project is 25.283 billion yuan. It will be constructed in the Naiman Natural Alkali New Materials Industrial Park in Daqinta La Town, Naiman Banner, Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, with a construction period of 24 months. The project is planned to consist of 4 soda ash production lines in total. Among them, there are 3 heavy soda ash production lines, with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per line, resulting in an overall capacity of 3.6 million tons per year; 1 light soda ash production line with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, and 1 baking soda production line with a capacity of 200,000 tons per year. 120 new sets of horizontal solution mining wells, along with accompanying water injection and production pump stations as well as brine transport pipelines, will be constructed; 3 new coal-fired cogeneration units with a capacity of 630 tons per hour will be added; new areas for factory facilities and auxiliary services will be established; dedicated railway lines for transporting coal and soda ash will be built; and living facilities will also be provided. Zhongyan Chemical Industry stated that the preliminary pilot project for the extraction of trona using solvent mining, with a capacity of 5 million tons per year, has been completed; all data collection and the preparation of reports on the solvent mining trials have been finished. Other construction projects are currently in the initial preparation stage and are progressing in an orderly manner as planned. Our country is the world’s largest producer and consumer of soda ash. By the end of 2025, the total effective production capacity of soda ash in the country was 42.93 million tons, of which 13.98 million tons came from the ammonia-soda process, accounting for 31.8%, 6.5 million tons from the natural soda process, accounting for 22.5%, and 20.05 million tons from the combined-process method, accounting for 45.6%. There are 15 group enterprises in China with a soda ash production capacity of over 100 tons each; together, their production capacity amounts to 34.9 million tons, accounting for 79.4% of the country’s total production capacity, thus further increasing the industry’s concentration. In recent years, new production capacity for soda ash, particularly that generated through the ammonia-soda method and the combined soda method, has been under strict control. However, soda ash produced via the natural soda method, thanks to its environmental friendliness, low energy consumption, and low costs, is not subject to such policy restrictions and is set to become the mainstream in the soda ash industry in the future. Zhongyan Chemical currently has a soda ash production capacity of 3.9 million tons, making it the third-largest soda ash producer in China. Zhongyan Chemical stated that this project fills a gap in the company’s production of natural soda ash, enabling a restructuring of the industrial framework by combining the ammonia-soda method, the double-soda method, and the natural soda ash method – thereby significantly optimizing the layout of soda ash products. On the one hand, it strengthens the company’s position in the soda ash industry; on the other hand, it creates competitive advantages that will enable the company to become the largest and highest-quality producer of natural soda ash in the world, laying a solid foundation for this goal.