Flat panel TV sets and touchscreens on a smartphone would not be possible were it not for a mineral mined deep in the Mojave Desert. Outside the little town of Boron in the Antelope Valley sits the largest open pit mine in California, and one of the largest borax mines in the world – more than a mile across and 775 feet deep. The mine has operated in the high desert since the 1920s, first with tunnels and then with the open pit starting in the late 1950s. Today it employs about 800 people and provides ingredients for products ranging from electronics to detergent to ceramics. The life of the mine will extend for decades into the future, said Dean Gehring, general manager of the Boron operations. “With these operations we are planning to go for another 32 years,” Gehring said. Founded by the U.S. Borax Co. in the late 19th century, the mine sits on “one of the richest borate deposits on the planet,” according to the company. The Boron mine still operates under the U.S. Borax name, now part of Rio Tinto Minerals in Denver, a business unit of publicly traded global mining company Rio Tinto Group in London. The Mine The operation has two parts – the pit and the processing plant. The pit produces about 3 million tons of ore each year, which reduces down to about 1 million tons of refined borax shipped to customers. Scoopers dig the borax and surrounding dirt and rock from the pit and dump it in ore haulers, which carry 240 tons on a single trip. The material is sifted, sorted and crushed on its way to the processing plant. Borax has been mined in California for more than a century, starting in Death Valley and then later in Boron. Twenty-mule teams were originally used in Death Valley to haul the mineral by wagon from the mine across the desert to rail stations. These teams lent their name to the 20 Mule Team Borax detergent. The brand was originally owned by U.S. Borax but in 1988 was sold to Dial Corp. of Scottsdale, Ariz. The Process Refining the ore from the mine is a six-step process involving equipment that dissolves, settles, crystallizes, filters, dries and conveys the mineral to storage tanks. The crushed ore that comes in two types, tincal and kernite, is refined by mixing it with a hot liquid chemical that dissolves the borates from the rock. The borates are then cooled and dried before going into storage bins. Once refined, borax is a white tasteless powder that dissolves in water. The Product Borax is best known for use in detergents but that market now makes up only 5 percent of the mine’s business. The mineral is now largely used in fertilizers to help plants absorb nutrients. Other uses include fiberglass insulation, ceramics, Pyrex and the glass used for flat-panel televisions, laptop computers and smartphone screens. Asia is the fastest-growing market for borates as that is where most of the world’s television and computer manufacturing takes place, said Gehring, who also serves as vice president of operations with Rio Tinto Materials. “We have been seeing agriculture uses in Southeast Asia,” he added. “In palm oil, (borates) can help boost production by 30 percent.” What makes the Boron mine different from other Rio Tinto operations, such as iron or copper mines, is that it is market driven. The mine does not produce a huge supply of borax in the hope there will be a need for it. Instead, it mines enough material to meet demand, which requires cooperation among all phases of the operation – from the miners to the sales team. “It takes a high degree of coordination to operate with lower inventory levels,” Gehring said.