Wonarah Phosphate mine, page-70

Phosphates are one of the most important fertilizers used by American farmers. US production of phosphate fertilizers has dropped as a result of industry consolidation, lack of raw material availability, and environmental and permitting pressures. Import limitations have compounded these circumstances, and phosphate prices are now at record highs. The security of the long-term US supply chain for phosphates is at risk, which could jeopardize US agricultural productivity. Novaphos can address these issues by making phosphoric acid for US farmers: locally, sustainably and economically. Novaphos is a US-based company with proprietary technology to produce phosphoric acid—the key building block for phosphate products—from low-grade ore and even recycled mine waste tailings. Our “green” process does not produce large volume wastes like the phosphogypsum that is a major disposal burden for existing producers; rather, we produce useful and safe coproducts. The phosphoric acid we produce is high quality, suitable for more sustainable, precise fertilization practices. Novaphos intends to seek a USDA grant of up to $5m, which will be combined with the significant investments made by our private- sector partners to enable deployment of Novaphos technology. We plan to use this funding to accelerate construction of commercial-scale Novaphos production facilities in the US, adding up to 20% to the US supply of liquid phosphate fertilizers over the coming 3-5 years, with additional Novaphos plants to be constructed thereafter. With USDA support, Novaphos can address the phosphate supply chain crisis for US farmers highlighted in the USDA Request.

it’s a fait complete if you want new phosphate capacity this is the way.

Building new phosphate mines and wet-acid plants is expensive, time-consuming and faces heavy regulatory challenges (e.g. phosphogypsum disposal). No new plant has been built in the US for many years; rather, numerous domestic plants have been permanently shut down. For these reasons—poor economics, phosphate rock resource limitations and permitting challenges—no new wet-acid plants are likely to be built again in the US.

wet acid plants are a thing of the past.

https://novaphos.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AMS-AMS-22-0027-1256_attachment_1.pdf