Geological occurrence[edit]

Phosphate mine near Flaming Gorge, Utah, 2008

Train loaded with phosphate rock, Métlaoui, Tunisia, 2012

Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus, found in

many phosphate minerals. In mineralogy and geology, phosphate refers to a rock or ore
containing phosphate ions. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in
agriculture and industry.[2]
The largest global producer and exporter of phosphates is Morocco. Within North America, the
largest deposits lie in the Bone Valley region of central Florida, the Soda Springs region of
southeastern Idaho, and the coast of North Carolina. Smaller deposits are located
in Montana, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. The small island nation of Nauru and its
neighbor Banaba Island, which used to have massive phosphate deposits of the best quality,
have been mined excessively. Rock phosphate can also be found in Egypt, Palestine, Western
Sahara, Navassa Island, Tunisia, Togo, and Jordan, countries that have large phosphate-mining
industries.
Phosphorite mines are primarily found in:

 North America:

Main article: Phosphate mining in the United States

United States, especially Florida, with lesser deposits in North Carolina, Idaho,

and Tennessee

 Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia.
 Middle East: Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iran and Iraq, at the town
of Akashat, near the Jordanian border.
 Central Asia: Kazakhstan
 Oceania: Australia, Makatea, Nauru, and Banaba Island
In 2007, at the current rate of consumption, the supply of phosphorus was estimated to run out in
345 years.[7] However, some scientists thought that a "peak phosphorus" will occur in 30 years
and Dana Cordell from Institute for Sustainable Futures said that at "current rates, reserves will
be depleted in the next 50 to 100 years".[8] Reserves refer to the amount assumed recoverable at
current market prices, and, in 2012, the USGS estimated 71 billion tons of world reserves, while
0.19 billion tons were mined globally in 2011.[9] Phosphorus comprises 0.1% by mass of the
average rock[10] (while, for perspective, its typical concentration in vegetation is 0.03% to 0.2%),
[11]
 and consequently there are quadrillions of tons of phosphorus in Earth's 3 * 10 19 ton crust,
[12]
 albeit at predominantly lower concentration than the deposits counted as reserves from being
inventoried and cheaper to extract; if it is assumed that the phosphate minerals in phosphate
rock are hydroxyapatite and fluoroapatite, phosphate minerals contain roughly 18.5%
phosphorus by weight and if phosphate rock contains around 20% of these minerals, the
average phosphate rock has roughly 3.7% phosphorus by weight.
Some phosphate rock deposits, such as Mulberry in Florida,[13] are notable for their inclusion of
significant quantities of radioactive uranium isotopes. This syndrome is noteworthy because
radioactivity can be released into surface waters[14] in the process of application of the resultant
phosphate fertilizer (e.g. in many tobacco farming operations in the southeast US).
In December 2012, Cominco Resources announced an updated JORC compliant resource of
their Hinda project in Congo-Brazzaville of 531 Mt, making it the largest measured and indicated
phosphate deposit in the world.[15]

Mining[edit]
The three principal phosphate producer countries (China, Morocco and the United States)
account for about 70% of world production.