American Potash and Chemical Company

American Potash and Chemical Company (sometimes abbreviated as AMPOT) was a large chemical manufacturer in the United States from the 1920s through the 1960s. It produced various chemicals for US industry and the US military. It was bought by Kerr-McGee in 1967, which reformed it into the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation (KMCC) around 1970.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

History

The company started by producing borax and potash from Searles Lake, at Trona, California. During World War II it diversified to other chemicals. In 1948, the company was San Bernardino County's second-largest employer, with 1,600 of Trona's 5,000 residents on the payroll.[7] In the 1950s it bought Eston Chemicals, Western Electrochemical, and the Lindsay Chemical Company and further diversified its product line. During the Cold war era it produced ammonium perchlorate for U.S. missile industry, particularly for Falcon, Hawk, Minuteman, Nike Zeus, Pershing, Polaris, Scout, Sergeant, Tartar missiles.[8]

In the 1960s it bought a large interest in Compagnie des Potasses du Congo. In 1967 AMPOT was bought by Kerr-McGee. Around 1970 Kerr-McGee reorganized and AMPOT became the KMCC which in 2006 was spun off as Tronox.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

When AMPOT bought the Lindsay Chemical Company it also got the Rare Earths Facility in West Chicago, Illinois.

References
  1. American Potash and Chemical Company with corporate offices in Los Angeles at W. 6th St. & South Virgil AVE were closed 15 July 1969 and moved to Oklahoma City. Al Greenwood (May 2009). "Anadarko denies role in bankrupt Tronox fraud lawsuit". ICIS / Reed Business Information Ltd. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  2. "Shareholder Class Action Filed on Behalf of Purchasers of Tronox, Inc. by the Law Firm of Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check, LLP". PR Newswire/ Reuters. 2009. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  3. "PACIFIC ENGINEERING & PRODUCTION COMPANY OF NEVADA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. KERR-McGEE CORPORATION". atlaw / US 10th Circuit. 1977. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2009. 551 F.2d 790
  4. "Tronox FAQ". Tronox. Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  5. "FOLLOW-UP REVIEW OF ILLINOIS AGREEMENT STATE PROGRAM" (PDF). US NRC. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  6. "American Potash & Chemical Corporation List of Deals". Harvard Business School Baker Library, Lehman Brothers Collection. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  7. Staff, "Growth Of $30,000,000 County Potash Industry Described", San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Saturday 5 June 1948, Volume LVI, Number 240, page 11.
  8. Ammonium Perchlorate Has Been Qualified in Performance by Every Manufacturer and Program in Solid Propellant Technology. // Aviation Week & Space Technology, Mid-December, 1960, v. 73, no. 27, p. 330.


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