Sweetwater Royalties is a privately held land and mineral royalty company that owns one of the largest private land and mineral estates in the United States.  Sweetwater owns more than 4.5 million mineral acres and approximately 860,000 fee surface acres in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Michigan making Sweetwater Royalties the 9th largest private landowner in the United States. We have a large and growing royalty portfolio and recurring revenue streams from soda ash, oil & gas, renewable energy, industrial minerals, infrastructure, agricultural and grazing with a growing suite of emerging critical mineral opportunities.

Our Heritage

Sweetwater is stewarding its large legacy surface and mineral estates with a focus on responsible development and long-term value creation through collaborative partnerships. 

Our largest land and mineral holdings is part of what is known as The Land Grant. The Land Grant was created under the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 during President Abraham Lincoln’s administration to facilitate construction of the transcontinental railroad. The original Land Grant awarded to the Union Pacific Railroad consisted of every other square mile of fee surface and minerals in a checkerboard fashion, 40 miles tall and approximately 440 miles long stretching from the Nebraska border to the edges of Salt Lake City.  

Our Ownership 

Sweetwater is a privately held company primarily owned by Orion Resource Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. 

The Land Grant

What we do

Sweetwater’s vast surface and mineral estates underpin a royalty platform of large-scale soda ash, oil and gas, renewable energy and a broad mix of long-term development opportunities. 

1. Soda Ash 

Sweetwater owns approximately 50% of the mineral and surface rights in Wyoming’s Green River Basin, which holds over 90% of the world's known trona resources. Trona is processed into soda ash - life’s invisible ingredient. Soda ash is the world’s tenth most consumed industrial ingredient and is an essential ingredient in glass manufacturing, detergents, water treatment, and clean-energy technologies. 

2. Oil and Gas 

Sweetwater owns an extensive ~313,000-acre fee mineral position across the Northern DJ Basin, including ~253,000 gross hydrocarbon acres in Colorado and Wyoming.  

3. Renewable Energy 

Sweetwater is a major surface owner across southern Wyoming, home to both strong wind and solar resources. Sweetwater has two operating wind farms on its lands and has approximately 300,000 additional surface acres under lease for potential renewable energy development. 

4. Mineral Exploration and Development 

Sweetwater’s extensive mineral estate offers significant exploration potential across more than 4.5 million acres. Sweetwater partners with companies that have a proven track record to advance exploration and development. Our vast mineral estate includes prospective areas for uranium, nickel, copper, gold, and lithium - all increasingly important to U.S. supply chain resilience and energy security. 

Partnership Pathways

Sweetwater provides bespoke commercial structures across a broad range of development opportunities and partners with proven developers and operators across various industries to achieve mutually beneficial results. Proposed transactions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis and may include a combination of: 

• Royalty structures designed to align long-term value creation 

• Joint venture arrangements with Sweetwater equity ownership 

• Mineral development leases  

• Earn-in Agreements for mineral exploration 

• Renewable energy leases 

• Surface-use and surface access rights  

• Infrastructure corridor easements for transmission lines, pipelines, utilities, roads, and communications