Background The South Australian Department of Mines and Energy commissioned Amdel to carry out commodity surveys for a number of industrial minerals. This survey relates to the mineral trona and to sodium carbonate or soda ash production in general. Objective The aim of the project was to review Australian production and consumption of soda ash as it related to the overall world scene, including such topics as production methods and capacities, specifications, prices and markets. Summary of Work Done The information in this report was obtained by the following methods: 1. A literature survey was carried out to obtain details of world production and demand, production methods, general specifications and uses. 2. Discussions were held with an engineer from ICI Australia Limited to obtain information on Australian production, specifications and prices. 3. Australian export and import figures were obtained from the Bureau of Statistics. Conclusions 1. Australia is essentially self-sufficient in soda ash which is produced by ICI Australia Limited using the Solvay Process. Domestic production capacity has been increased regularly to meed the increasing demand. 2. The major uses for soda ash are glass and chemicals manufacture. 3. Experience in the US has shown that natural soda ash is much cheaper to produce on a large scale than Solvay soda ash. There is, as a result, considerable economic incentive for exploration for trona in Australia. 4. The growth rate in consumption in Australia has recently fallen from 5 to 3% pa, and the long term forecast in the US is for continued growth at about 3% pa for at least the next 20 years.