Editing Boron, California (section)

== Industry ==
[[File:Rio Tinto Boron mine and plant.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|[[Rio Tinto Borax Mine|Rio Tinto Boron mine]] and plant, 2012]]
[[File:Rio Tinto Borax mine from ISS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Boron (right center) and the Rio Tinto Borax mine from [[International Space Station|ISS]], 2013]]

A large borax deposit was discovered in 1925,<ref>[http://www.borax.com/borax5.html Rio Tinto Borax: About Borax: History<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060317190621/http://www.borax.com/borax5.html |date=March 17, 2006 }}</ref> and the mining town of Boron was established soon thereafter. This borax deposit is the world's largest borax mine.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> It is owned by [[Rio Tinto Group|Rio Tinto Minerals]] (formerly [[Pacific Coast Borax Company|U.S. Borax]]). It is operated as an [[Open-pit mining|open-pit mine]], the largest open-pit mine in California.<ref>[http://ftp.dir.ca.gov/75thAnniversary/dir/story7/storyframe.html ftp.dir.ca.gov] {{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>[https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prd-wret/assets/palladium/production/mineral-pubs/boron/boronmyb04.pdf minerals.usgs.gov]</ref> This mine supplies nearly half of the world's supply of refined borates.<ref>[https://leica-geosystems.com/SFTP/files/archived-files/Dez2004_mining_engineering_GPS.pdf leica-geosystems.com]</ref> Rio Tinto Minerals is Boron's primary employer, employing over 800 people.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060115032334/http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA4982/ U.S. Borax Boron Mine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Workers at Rio Tinto are represented by Local 30 Mine, Mineral and Processing Workers of the [[International Longshore and Warehouse Union]]. Originally represented by Local 85 of the [[International Chemical Workers' Union]], workers voted to affiliate with the ILWU in 1966.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ilwu.org/history/the-ilwu-story |title=The ILWU Story |publisher=[[International Longshore and Warehouse Union]] |access-date=October 9, 2024}}</ref> During a 2010 [[labor dispute]], workers were [[Lockout (industry)|locked out]] by Rio Tinto for 107 days until support from the community and [[organized labor]] across California and elsewhere allowed both parties to successfully negotiate a new [[collective bargaining agreement]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Local 30 members mark lockout anniversary in Boron |date=February 23, 1911 |publisher=[[International Longshore and Warehouse Union]]|url=https://www.ilwu.org/local-30-members-mark-lockout-anniversary-in-boron/ |access-date=October 9, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Settlement Voted Up in Boron, Calif., Lockout |date=May 18, 2010 |first=Jane |last=Slaughter |url=https://www.labornotes.org/2010/05/settlement-voted-boron-calif-lockout |access-date=October 9, 2024}}</ref> The dispute was covered in a 2010 documentary entitled Locked Out.<ref>{{cite web |title=Locked Out 2010: Premiere of new documentary film is shown first to families in Boron |date=November 20, 2010 |publisher=[[International Longshore and Warehouse Union]] |url=https://www.ilwu.org/locked-out-2010-premiere-of-new-documentary-film-is-shown-first-to-families-in-boron/ |access-date=October 9, 2024}}</ref>

{{Convert|6|mile||spell=In}} east of Boron, across the county line in San Bernardino County, is what was, until 2014, the world's largest solar power production facility.<ref>[http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/22589.pdf Solar Trough Systems]</ref> The Kramer Junction Company (KJC) is the managing general partner of the five 30 megawatt [[Solar Energy Generating Systems]] (SEGS)  facilities in the Mojave Desert at Kramer Junction, California. Together with its wholly owned subsidiary, KJC Operating Company, KJC operates and manages these facilities (SEGS III-VII).<ref>[http://www.solel.com/products/pgeneration/ls2/kramerjunction/ Solel - Leading the World in Solar Thermal Energy | Kramer Junction SEGS III, IV, V, VI, VII<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>