A proposed phosphate rock mine in Northeast Florida would produce some 2.4 million st/y of low cadmium 66-68 BPL product, HHPC Enterprises LLC Project Manager Jack Schmedeman told Green Markets March 3. He said the mine, which would have a 60-year mine life, would cost approximately $100-$120 million to get started.
Schmedeman said the four families that own the property (GM Feb. 29, p. 1) are adamant that the property will remain family-owned and will be quickly reclaimed and returned to farm and ranch use. Reclamation is to start within 90 days of mining completion of each 300 acre tract. Unlike other phosphate rock mines, he says there will be no clay settling ponds, and there will be no downstream production or phosphogypsum stacks since this will be just a phosphate rock mine.
Schmedeman said Dr. Hassan El-Shall from the University of Florida has developed a process whereby excavated sand can be combined with the clay to leave the land in good – or even better – shape after the mining. He said the Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute is also interested in this process, and that HPPC is building a pilot project to prove that it works.
The families plan to continue farming the property as the mining progresses. At least three family homes are on the 7,400 acres. HPPC stresses since it is local and family-owned, with plans for the families to retain the property, it will look out after any environmental concerns.
The property, which is in both Bradford and Union counties, is split by the New River. Some 300 acres are expected to be mined on each side of the river at the same time, using traditional draglines and producing 1.2 million st/y on each side.
The plan is to use a High Solids Ore Transportation System to move the rock offsite, with the company looking at different conveyer belt options. There will not be a slurry pipeline. There is also rail access for the property.
As previously reported, the company has proactively been in talks with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, as well as local county commissioners, about its plans. Town hall meeting are set in both counties at mid-month to further discuss the project. Permit applications are yet to be filed.
While initial reports were hopeful that mine construction could begin as early as 2017 and production in 2018, Schmedeman noted that much depends on how the permitting process and the procuring of customers develop. The nearest port is the Port of Jacksonville.
Finding a customer might be an interesting task, as the number of finished phosphate processing companies continues to shrink due to consolidation and bankruptcy. Obvious candidates would be in-state neighbors The Mosaic Co. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., though both have their own phosphate rock in Florida. However, both do import rock. Agrium Inc. is in the midst of a seven-year rock import agreement with OCP in Morocco to supply its Redwater, Alba., plant. It has the mission of finding a new source of rock or consider exiting the phosphate space altogether. Specialty phosphate producer Innophos Holding Inc. might also be a candidate. And what about Mississippi Phosphates Corp.? Would someone be interested in that bankrupt and idled facility in Pascagoula, Miss., if they had an economic source of rock?
The mine is expected to directly employ some 152 people, according to a study prepared by an Orlando consulting firm, Fishkind & Associates. In addition, the study said the project will generate 181 indirect jobs, and the spending by these employees and their households will induce an additional 237 jobs. The statewide economic impact is put at $95.5 million, and the indirect and induced impacts total $156.3 million.
Fishkind says the Union County part of the mine will have a taxable value of $60.1 million and generate some $631,332 in annual operating ad valorem revenue to the county by 2022. For Bradford County, the value is $103.8 million and $946,090, respectively.
The project now has a website – http://www.hpsii.net – and is on Facebook, as is its opposition group, the Coalition Against Phosphate Mining in Union and Bradford County.
Schmedeman is a phosphate industry veteran, having worked for over ten years for Cargill Fertilizer Inc. He left in 1998, and his most recent position was vice president of minerals technology. Thereafter he has been president of JRS GeoServices and has worked as an industry consultant. He holds a B.S. in Mineral Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the University of Houston.