What Are the Sources of Borax?

Mojave Desert

• The Mojave desert, with its desolate landscape of ancient lake beds, is the center of American borax production. Two communities built around borax mining are Boron and Searles Lake. The town of Boron is the site of America's largest open-pit mine, and it is within an easy distance of Death Valley. Death Valley was the site of an older borax mine, which was hauled out of that forbidding landscape by teams of 20 mules. This is the origin of that iconic supermarket brand of borax.

Turkey

• Turkey also has major reserves of boron in various forms, though the U.S. mines a greater quantity of borax. The major centers of Turkish production include Kirka, in central Anatolia, Kestelic, Bigadiç and the port city of Bandirma in the northwest and Emet in the country's western region. Kirka and Bandirma produce the greatest quantities of borax, with the other sites mining several other related borates.

South America

• Borax production in Latin America began began to be an important industry in the 1980s, when Chile began to exploit significant deposits in the Atacama desert. Neighboring Argentina has also discovered significant deposits of borax and other borates in a few locations throughout the country. One commercially significant area is in northern Argentina near Chile, others are scattered throughout desert regions of the country's interior.

Other Producers

• One of the first exporters of borates was Tibet, in the 19th century. Tibet is still a producer, though its mining is now counted as part of China's production. Italy, Russia and Bolivia are also producers. Their tonnage represents a small part of the world's total, but several of them mine rarer borates that occupy important market niches. Borax can also be synthesized in the laboratory from other borates, though this is not a major source.