Mineral Development LLC (MDL), Bartow, Fla., said on March 24 it has broken ground on a $70 million phosphate rock production facility in Polk County, Fla. The plant is designed to produce 1.2 million st of high-quality phosphate rock per year. MDL’s facility is the first independent phosphate beneficiation plant built in the U.S. in over 30 years. A ceremonial groundbreaking will be held April 14 in Bartow
The Mosaic Co., Tampa, will be an MDL customer, both companies confirmed. MDL told Green Markets that while some of the rock is committed domestically, significant volumes will also be available for export.
MDL expects production to begin in fourth-quarter 2022. DCO Energy, Mays Landing, N.J., is the contractor for the MDL plant construction.
“This is a very clean and eco-friendly project involving only previously mined lands,” said MDL President and CEO Lance McNeill. “We are very proud of what we’re doing.”
MDL has a long-term, exclusive agreement to extract phosphate rock from land owned by Clear Springs Land Co., Winter Haven, Fla. Clear Springs bought the previously mined land from IMC-Agrico, a predecessor of Mosaic in 1999 for $8.2 million (GM Sept. 13, 1999).
Clear Springs has approximately 18,000 acres in Bartow, midway between Tampa and Orlando and within 100 miles of Port Canaveral. After a housing slump weighed on its initial plans to develop residential housing, Clear Springs turned to agriculture and has concentrated on farming, including berries, tomatoes, and cattle. Company founder Connecticut financier Stanford Phelps, who passed away in 2019, donated 20 acres of the land and $12 million for the Polk State College Advanced Technology Center, according to The Ledger.
An initial 4,400 acres will supply 18.5 million st to the 30-acre plant site. More Clear Springs and neighboring acreage is expected to supply up to 10 million st for the project and put the reserve life 20 years or more. MDL is exploring additional Clear Springs and neighboring acreage to accommodate a possible second plant.
Secondary recovery reprocesses old mine tailings into high-quality feedstock for fertilizer production. McNeill estimated that the process can recover up to 12 percent of the rock that was missed during the initial mining.
The project only extracts material from land that has been previously mined, the vast majority of which was disturbed before mandatory reclamation regulations. MDL’s operations will primarily use surface water from existing ponds, employ state-of-the-art water recycling methods, and restore the old mining land to current DEP reclamation standards. The process helps restore the land to its original state with native vegetation and natural surface water flow while providing high-grade product.
The company said since the project is on previously mined land and is not a greenfield, it has been well received by regulatory agencies, activist groups, local authorities, neighbors, and landowners.
MDL will produce rock that will be primarily upgraded in a fertilizer manufacturing facility. It said it will be able to produce rock with a range of qualities to meet customer requirements from 64-74 BPL or 30.2-33.9 percent P2O5 with low cadmium (less than 10 ppm). The company also said the rock has low metals content, including magnesium, aluminum, and iron. It said the easiest way to think about quality is that MDL will produce the “old” Florida phosphate rock that used to be exported over 20 years ago.
A company spokesperson said MDL’s rock might be a candidate for direct application in a limited set of circumstances, but it would not seek input certification for organic applications.
MDL said while this is its first secondary recovery project, it has done multiple other plants and operations in the industry over the past 60 years. MDL was founded in Lakeland, Fla. by the McNeill family, with current President and CEO Lance McNeill the third generation to be involved in the business. Its history in the fertilizer business also includes the founding of Lakeland Fertilizer Co., Florida Favorite Fertilizer Inc., and Tampa Tidewater Terminals Inc.
Last October, MDL closed on $118 million in financing that will fund the construction of its first plant and provide the working capital necessary to start up operations. It was raised via a $90 million tax-exempt bond issued through the Polk County Industrial Development Authority and $28.5 million of new equity. The tax-free bonds were purchased by large institutional investors. The new equity came from Plenary Capital, an infrastructure investment fund based in Vancouver, B.C.
The project will produce new job opportunities for the City of Bartow. MDL will primarily use local companies, vendors, and suppliers during construction and operation. McNeill said during operations MDL will directly employ 55 full-time people at the plant, and another 50 jobs will be created indirectly through full-time contractors needed for operations, logistics, and other professional services.
“The opportunity that MDL’s operation presents to the city of Bartow is significant,” said Bartow Mayor Scott Sjoblom. Because MDL will be connected to the City of Bartow’s utility network, the city benefits from their power purchases. “When its facility is operating, MDL will become Bartow’s biggest consumer of power, generating important revenue for the City.”