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It is the major resource mined to produce phosphate fertilizers for the agricultural industry. Phosphate is also used in animal feed supplements, food preservatives, anti-corrosion agents, cosmetics, fungicides, ceramics, water treatment and metallurgy.
In 2015, 27.6 million metric tons of marketable phosphate rock, or phosphorite, was mined in the United States, making the US the world's third-largest producer, after China and Morocco. The phosphate mining industry employed 2,200 people. The value of phosphate rock mined was US$2.2 billion.
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, Israel, Palestine, Western Sahara, Navassa Island, Tunisia, Togo, and Jordan, countries that have large phosphate-mining industries.
Agricultural and chemical minerals are very important in industrial use of fertilizers, which is valued at approximately $200 billion. [48] Nitrogen has a significant impact in the global mineral use, followed by potash and phosphate. The production of nitrogen has drastically increased since the 1960s.
Phosphorus from plant sources is therefore better suited to ruminants, but is still used to a lesser extent than phosphorus provided by inorganic sources. The ruminant's phosphorus requirements are dictated by the needs of the microbial population in the rumen, with the phosphorus being necessary for cellulose digestion and protein synthesis .
Mosaic is purchasing the phosphate business of CF Industries for $1.4 billion. That is $1.2 billion in cash for the phosphate business, and Mosaic will add another $200 million in asset retirement ...
Phosphate is an inorganic anion of phosphoric acid OP(OH) 3. There are also organophosphorus compounds with the formula OP(OR) 3. Subcategories.
The term phosphate is also used in organic chemistry for the functional groups that result when one or more of the hydrogens are replaced by bonds to other groups. These acids, together with their salts and esters , include some of the best-known compounds of phosphorus, of high importance in biochemistry , mineralogy , agriculture , pharmacy ...