June 15th, 2026

Publisher’s Note: As a result of the filing below, an automatic Stay of the Indian Wells Valley Water District vs. Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority Comprehensive Adjudication lawsuit was lifted at 8:15 a.m. The Phase 2 trial will continue, and Searles Valley Minerals will continue to defend their water rights while the bankruptcy case will ultimately result in a sale of substantially all of Searles Valley Minerals assets. Please see the Press Release below.

Background: Searles Valley Minerals announced that it was shutting down over half of their operations last February. They have been a party in the Comprehensive Adjudication lawsuit and in a separate lawsuit, Searles settled with the Groundwater Authority and the company was relieved of paying any “replenishment fees”. They will continue to defend their long-held water rights in the Phase 3 portion of the trial.

The full Press Release with additional details and contact information for Searles Valley Minerals can be downloaded below.

Searles Valley Minerals Initiates Court-Supervised Sale of its Critical Minerals Platform

PR Newswire

Mon, June 15, 2026 at 7:52 AM MST 4 min read

Company will continue normal operations throughout the case

Company receives new financing via a supply and liquidity agreement from Tata Chemicals and a junior DIP facility from its parent Karnavati Holdings, Inc.

Company to initiate competitive sale and marketing process under Section 363

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. and TRONA, Calif., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Searles Valley Minerals Inc. (“Searles Valley Minerals”) today announced that it, together with its affiliates Trona Railway Company LLC and Searles Domestic Water Company LLC (collectively, the “Debtors” or the “Company”), has filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Company intends to use the Chapter 11 process to conduct a competitive, court-supervised sale of substantially all its assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.

The filing is intended to facilitate the sale of the Company’s assets and position the business for a new owner. These assets include Westend, a leading boron supplier; the Trona Railway; Searles Domestic Water Company; and the critical mineral reserves at Searles Lake.

“For more than 150 years, Searles Valley Minerals has produced critical minerals from one of the world’s few water-soluble borate deposits,” said Dennis Cruise, President of Searles Valley Minerals. “As the soda ash market changed, we repositioned the business around borates — a mineral with no synthetic substitute and growing strategic importance. A court-supervised sale is the most orderly and transparent way to place this rare resource base, and the people who run it, with an owner who can invest in its next chapter.”

To fund operations during the case, a long-standing strategic supplier, Tata Chemicals North America Inc., has agreed to provide an unsecured, interest-free liquidity advance of up to $20 million while continuing to supply soda ash to the Company’s customers. In addition, the Company’s parent, Karnavati Holdings, Inc., is providing a $20 million junior debtor-in-possession (“DIP”) financing facility. Subject to Court approval, these arrangements are expected to provide sufficient liquidity to operate the business in the ordinary course and fund the sale process through closing.

The Company has filed customary first-day motions seeking authority to operate normally throughout the Chapter 11 process, including continuing paying wages and benefits to active employees in the ordinary course. Westend will continue to produce boron, sodium sulfate, salt and other products for customers. Trona Railway will continue to operate. Searles Domestic Water Company will continue to provide potable water service to its customers in Trona without interruption.