Overview
| Status | Temporary Suspension |
| Mine Type | Open Pit |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
|
| Processing |
|
On August 31, 2018, Mosaic made the decision to temporarily idled the South Pasture Mine. The decision followed an earlier idling of our Plant City manufacturing facility which processed much of the rock mined at South Pasture. No restart timeline has been established for South Pasture. |
Source:
p. 9
Summary:
The phosphate deposits of Florida are of sedimentary origin and are part of a phosphate-bearing province that extends from southern Florida north along the Atlantic coast into southern Virginia
Summary:
The South Pasture Mine started operation in 1995. Initially two draglines were in operation at the mine. The 852 dragline has a 45 cubic yard bucket and the 1370 dragline which has a 55 cubic yard bucket. A third machine was added in 2010; the 17 dragline also has a 55 cubic yard bucket. These machines are used to remove the overburden and mine the matrix. Typical mining depths for overburden and matrix are 14 feet and 21 feet, respectively.
Summary:
Beneficiation Plant Operations:
Washer
* Removes oversize material.
* Produces “pebble” phosphate.
* Removes clay by scrubbing and rinsing.
* Feeds all undersized phosphate and sand to the sizer.
* Same-sized sand and phosphate is pumped to the flotation plant for separation.
Flotation Plant
* Produces fine-sized “Concentrate” phosphate.
* Uses special additives (mostly biodegradable oils from the pulp and paper industry) to coat the phosphate.
* Phosphate separates from the sand, floats to the top and is skimmed off.
* Pumps sand back to the field for reclamation.
Blended phosphate rock is loaded onsite and transported to manufacturing facilities via rail, truck and vessel.
Recoveries & Grades:
| Commodity | Parameter | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|
Phosphate rock
|
Head Grade, %
| 28.6 | 28.6 | 28.6 | 28.1 | 27.9 |
Production:
| Commodity | Units | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|
Phosphate rock
|
Mt
| ......  | ...... | ...... | 3.3 | 2.6 |
All production numbers are expressed as concentrate.
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Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|
Annual milling capacity
| ...... | ...... | 3.2 Mt |
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Reserves at December 31, 2018:
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade |
|
Proven & Probable
|
138.2 Mt
|
P2O5
|
28.9 %
|
Heavy Mobile Equipment as of July 30, 2016:
| HME Type | Size | Quantity |
|
Dragline
|
45 cu. yd
|
1
|
|
Dragline
|
55 cu. yd
|
2
|
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