Phosphate rock

Phosphate rock is a naturally occurring rock rich in phosphate minerals, especially apatite. It is the principal raw material for manufacturing phosphate fertilizers.

Phosphate fertilizer: A fertilizer supplying phosphorus, usually as water-soluble phosphate compounds. Processing converts phosphate rock into the phosphorus fertilizers used on crops.
Beneficiation: The physical or chemical separation of valuable minerals from unwanted material in an ore. Beneficiation raises phosphate concentration before rock is shipped or chemically processed.
Phosphorite: A sedimentary rock composed largely of phosphate minerals, especially carbonate fluorapatite. Phosphorite is the common sedimentary form of phosphate rock mined for industry.
Phosphorus cycle: The movement of phosphorus among rocks, water, soil, and living organisms. Mining transfers geological phosphorus into rapidly circulating agricultural and industrial systems.
Struvite: A magnesium ammonium phosphate mineral that can be recovered from wastewater and used as fertilizer. Recovered struvite can recycle phosphorus without relying solely on newly mined rock.
Phosphoric acid: An inorganic acid produced industrially from phosphate-bearing materials and used in fertilizers and other products. Wet-process phosphoric acid is a major intermediate made from phosphate rock.
Flotation: A mineral-separation process that uses bubbles and surface chemistry to separate particles in slurry. Flotation can separate phosphate minerals from silicate or carbonate gangue.
Guano: Accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats, used historically as a phosphorus-rich fertilizer and sometimes forming phosphate deposits. Guano helped launch commercial phosphorus fertilizer use before large-scale rock mining.
Eutrophication: Excess nutrient enrichment of water that can trigger algal growth and oxygen depletion. Phosphate fertilizer losses can contribute phosphorus to lakes and coastal waters.
Phosphorus recycling: The recovery and reuse of phosphorus from wastes such as sewage, manure, and food residues. Recycling offers a complementary phosphorus source to mined phosphate rock.

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