Mosaic Facts About Phosphate Mining

About Florida Phosphate

Phosphate is essential to meet the needs of a growing world. With the world's population expected to climb to a staggering 8.5 billion people by 2040, estimates are that food production will need to increase more than 2 percent annually just to maintain minimum dietary requirements for preventing malnourishment - a problem that currently affects some 2 billion people.

According to The Fertilizer Institute, commercial fertilizers are now responsible for 40 to 60 percent of world food production. The United States is fortunate to have some of the lowest food costs in the world. Florida's phosphate operations help preserve the agricultural backbone of our country. This allows us to:

produce our own phosphate fertilizers
produce our own grain, fruit and meat that result from the use of phosphate
reduce our dependence on foreign countries for our supply

Mosaic's crop nutrients allow farmers to grow more food on less land, so that other lands can be saved for natural habitats. The late Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize winner and father of the green revolution that transformed global food-growing practices, educated farmers about methods of fertilizer use that saved millions of square miles of diverse forests in Third World countries that would otherwise have become low-yield farms.

Here in Florida, 90 percent of the phosphate mined becomes fertilizer. That's why there's such an overwhelming need to continue phosphate mining - and why Mosaic's Florida phosphate mining and fertilizer production operations are so vital to our future.

How Phosphate is Used

Besides fertilizer, Mosaic also produces phosphate-based feed supplements for livestock. Phosphate is also added to a variety of consumer products we use every day including:

      • soft drinks                              • toothpaste
      • bone china                             • film
      • light bulbs                             • vitamins
      • flame-resistant fabrics             • optical glass
      • shaving cream

How Phosphate was Formed

	More than 15 million years ago, Florida was under water. Water currents flowed across the sea floor. The colder waters closest to the sea floor were rich in phosphate and other vital nutrients.
	10-15 million years ago, the sea floor rose up, forming the "Ocala Arch." Water currents were deflected upwards. The deeper water flowed to the surface, called an "upwelling."
	The upwelling brought the phosphate and other nutrients to the surface. This nutrient-rich water encouraged major biologic growth of plant and marine life.
	Phosphorous-rich water, bones, teeth and animal waste settled onto the sea floor and mixed with deposits of sand and clay.
	Over time, the sea level dropped and sandy sediment covered the mix of phosphate, sand and clay deposited below. Today, there is approximately 15-50 feet of sandy soil covering this three-part "matrix."

Phosphate's Discovery and History in Florida

In 1881, J. Francis LeBaron, an engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, discovered phosphate pebbles while surveying the Peace River.

Beginning in 1887, phosphate companies were formed from Arcadia to Cleveland to mine the river pebble phosphate, using dredges and rudimentary washers to recover pebbles of this important mineral.

These mining companies loaded the phosphate onto barges and shipped it out to Charlotte Harbor, where it would be transferred to schooners - tall wooden ships with typically four or five masts - as well as steamships.

Land pebble phosphate was discovered in Polk County in the late 1800s - and the area became known as "Bone Valley" because of the many fossils found there. Mining of land pebble phosphate began in 1890 and quickly proved to be a much cheaper source of phosphate than river pebble.

All-inclusive phosphate towns were built near the mines for their employees.

Almost all land pebble phosphate was shipped by rail to the large terminals at Port Tampa and Seddon Island, where it was loaded onto ships.

In 1906, Peter B. Bradley became president of the American Agricultural Chemical Company, one of Mosaic's early predecessor companies. Bradley envisioned a company-owned shipping terminal at south Boca Grande. He became known as the "Founding Father of Boca Grande" after buying much of Gasparilla Island and developing the town. Bradley was also responsible for building a railroad, the Charlotte Harbor & Northern Railway, which came from central Florida, over the Myakka River and onto Boca Grande to the phosphate terminal, which was a key shipping operation until 1978.

Throughout the 1900s, phosphate operations in Florida changed dramatically. Modern dragline machines made mining more efficient, and fertilizer manufacturing plants were built in the 1940s and 1950s to transform the phosphate pebbles into water soluble crop nutrients for farmers. As with most heavy industries throughout America, there was far less consideration for the environment and regulatory oversight prior to the 1970s than exists today. Companies consolidated, technology improved, and safety and environmental standards made Florida's phosphate operations one of the most stringently regulated industries in the nation.