page_title: Phosphate mining in the United States
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Phosphate mining in the United States / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Phosphate rock mined in the United States, 1900-2015 (Data from US Geological Survey)
context_page_description: 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.
  As of 2015, there are 10 active phosphate mines in four states: Florida, North Carolina, Idaho, and Utah. The eastern phosphate deposits are mined from open pits. The western deposits are mined from both surface and underground mines.
  The exact phosphate content of the phosphate rock mined in 2015 is not available, but in the latest five-year period for which ore grades are available, 2009-2013, the grade of US phosphate rock varied from 28.5 to 29.0 percent P₂O₅.
  As of 2016, remaining reserves of phosphate rock in the United States totaled 1.1 billion metric tons.
context_section_description: Large-scale phosphate mining in the US began in 1868 in coastal South Carolina. Access to river transport and proximity to the port of Charleston encouraged exports, and by 1885 South Carolina was producing half the world's phosphate. Phosphate mining in South Carolina declined rapidly in the 1890s, when mining of the higher-grade deposits in central Florida began. The central Florida district has provided the majority of US phosphate ever since.
  US production of phosphate rock peaked in 1980 at 54.4 million metric tons. The United States was the world's largest producer of phosphate rock from at least 1900, up until 2006, when US production was exceeded by that of China. In 2015, the US produced 12 percent of the world's phosphate rock.
caption: Phosphate rock mined in the United States, 1900-2015 (data from US Geological Survey)
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