ABSTRACT

Phosphate rock is the primary commercial source of phosphorus, a vital and irreplaceable constituent of those nucleic acids which ensure the proper transfer and storage of energy in all living organisms. The important deposits of the southeastern United States, Morocco, and west Africa are of this type and supplied, in 1980, approximately 55% of the world phosphate rock demand. Developed igneous deposits in the U.S.S.R., Brazil, and South Africa are important reserves with specific local advantages, such as market accessibility. Phosphate rock chemical conversion plants are more often being constructed near the mine sites. Approximately 70% of the 138 million tonnes of phosphate rock produced worldwide in 1980 originated from mines in the United States, the U.S.S.R., and Morocco. Work is in progress in many areas of mining, beneficiation, and chemical processing directed at solution of the present and future problems facing the phosphate fertilizer industry.