U.S. Borax, part of Rio Tinto history

The contemporary Eagle Borax Works folded in 1882 because of poor deposits, summer heat, and remoteness.

The first 20 mule team hauled borax a sweeping 165 miles through Death Valley in 1883.

Borax Co. and a few years later in 1884 it was changed again to Teel’s Marsh Borax Company.

In 1888 Coleman went bankrupt, and his borax holdings were subsequently purchased by F.M. Smith (now known as "Borax" Smith), who established the Pacific Coast Borax Company two years later.

His claims were soon purchased by W.T. Coleman, builder of Harmony Borax Works, where marsh muds were refined until 1889.

The Pacific Coast Borax company or PCB was a United States mining company founded in 1890 by the American Borax magnate Francis “Borax Bill” the Borax King Smith.

Since 1891, all-natural borax has been an essential ingredient in a multitude of household products, including laundry and multi-purpose cleaning solutions.

In 1896 a merger between Smith and two young English manufacturing chemists, Richard C. Baker and James Gerstley, resulted in a firm called The Pacific Borax and Redwood's Chemical Works Ltd. of London.

Another merger in 1898, absorbing that company, created Borax Consolidated Limited.

1899: Smith and British partners form Borax Consolidated, Ltd. and Pacific Coast Borax becomes a subsidiary company.

In 1906 Pacific Coast Borax began building a rail line, the Tonapah & Tidewater Railway, to haul ore in California and Nevada.

In 1913 while drilling for water, John K. Suckow found a deposit of what he believed to be gypsum; upon further testing, it was revealed that a colemanite form of borax was discovered.

In 1914 the Death Valley Railroad was built to transport borax to the new Ryan mine that had been developed in the area.

Francis Marion Smith bought the claim for his Pacific Coast Borax Company and mining at the site by underground shafts began in the 1920's.

The company's production also reached 110,000 tons of borax per year during World War I. In 1923 Pacific Coast Borax consolidated its refining operations with the construction of a new facility in Wilmington, California, near Los Angeles.

The company's production capacity grew again in 1925 after a doctor digging a well discovered the world's largest known borax deposit.

In 1926 the Pacific Coast Borax company created a subsidiary called the Death Valley Hotel Company to construct a mission revival style luxury hotel near Furnace Creek springs in the foothills of the Funeral Mountains which overlook Death Valley.

The Furnace Creek Inn opened in February in 1927 with transport via a motor coach from the Ryan Station of the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad.

United States Potash had been acquired by Borax in 1930 to develop potash deposits in North America.

In 1956 Pacific Coast Borax was merged with United States Potash, another mining concern owned by Borax Consolidated, Ltd., to form United States Borax & Chemical Corp.

Pacific Coast Borax later became United States Borax which opened the current open-pit mine in 1957; the name was later changed to Rio-Tinto Borax after it was acquired by the Rio-Tinto Group.

In Turkey, a major borax source was found in 1960, which was subsequently run by the nationalized Etibank company, United States Borax's only major competitor.

In 1966 United States Borax also sold its Death Valley-based resort to the Fred Harvey Corporation.

Stephen T. Mather created the 20 Mule Team® brand when he launched his career at the Pacific Coast Borax Company, which became United States Borax before being acquired by Rio Tinto in 1967.

United States Borax and Chemical was acquired in 1968 by RTZ Corporation (later known as Rio Tinto plc) through a merger with Borax, Ltd., United States Borax’s principal owner.

In a generally successful year, sales registered a 9% growth over 1970, and

United States Borax: 1971 Annual Report.

The year 1972 marks the 100th anniversary of United States Borax, and the first century of continuous borax production in the United StatesA.

1977: Potash operations are sold to Canadian government.

In 1980 United States Borax spent $80 million to construct a boric acid production plant at its Boron, California mine site.

1985-86:Company purchases two silica firms and forms United States Silica.

The short-duration project commenced in early 1988, and depleted the ore in only two years.

——, “Cleaning Up in the Widening Borax Market,” Financial Times, November 20, 1990.

United States Borax was ultimately unable to work the mine, however, and sold it in 1991 after reportedly spending $100 million on the project.

1993: Company's name is shortened to United States Borax, Inc.

In 1995 United States Borax sold its United States Silica division to D. George Harris and Associates for $120 million.

United States Borax celebrated the 125th anniversary of F1.M. Smith’s first borax mine development in 1997, building a $1 million, 6,000-square-foot visitor’s center at its Boron complex that featured educational displays and examples of mining equipment from the past and present.

During 1999 the company acquired the assets of Lake Minerals Corporation, which operated a trona mine at Lone Pine, California.

In 2001, the company entered into a joint agreement with Millennium Cell, Inc. to develop a synthesis process for converting sodium borates to sodium borohydride.

Subsequently, Henkel acquired Dial in 2003.

In celebration of this historic icon’s 145th anniversary, a full-scale, authentic, working replica of the wagons rode in the 2017 Rose Parade.

A pilot project to produce lithium by sifting through mining waste began at the mine in 2019.