ELEMENTAL FLUXES IN GLOBAL PHOSPHATE ORES: EVALUATION OF A POTENTIAL RESOURCE FOR CRITICAL ELEMENTS

The green energy transition is fueling the development and exploration of new mineral resources to meet demands for specialized elements that are used in various applications including motors, alloys, batteries, and solar panels. Recently phosphate ores, primarily used for fertilizers, have been investigated due to their rare-earth element (REE) abundances. One advantage to developing phosphate ores for other mineral production, is that the mining sites already exist and would reduce the environmental footprint of opening new mines.

Here we show that in addition to REEs and use in fertilizers, global phosphate ores could be potential resources for several other critical elements as well. Our data include elemental concentrations of phosphate ores of both sedimentary and igneous types from 12 major phosphate-producing countries. Using country specific phosphate production data and for specific elements (i.e., REE, Al, Mg, Li, Co, Ni, Mn, V, Ga, Se, Cu, Zn, Ag, Ge) from the 2022 USGS mineral commodity summaries, we quantify the annual flux of each element in mined phosphate production. Several of these elements have high annual fluxes in global phosphate production relative to the annual production of that element. Notably, Ge (1170%), Ga (567%), Mg (142%), (80%), Se (43%), and V (14%) in phosphate ores are highly concentrated and the annual flux in phosphate ores could represent a large portion of each element’s annual production.

Overall, global phosphate ores might represent a potential mineral resource for many elements that are critical for the green energy transition. With improving extraction technologies, more of these elements may become available during beneficiation.