32 



TABLE IX.-RESERVES AND POTENTIAL RESOURCES OF PHOSPHATE ROCK IN THE UNITED STATES 



[In millions of long tons] 



Source 



Arkansas _. 



Florida 



North Carolina. 



South Carolina 



Tennessee _. 



Western fields _ 



Total (rounded) 7,100 2,100 49,000 12,000 



Note: A large tonnage of lower grade phosphatic material In the western field is not included in resources. The Florida 

 and Tennessee potential resources include the low-grade mineable material. 



1 Estimate. 



2 Data not available. 



3 Includes Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. 



Source: Mineral Facts and Problems (1965 edition), page 704. 



Transportation costs play a major role in the economics of phos- 

 phates. Shipping phosphate rock from Florida to California, for ex- 

 ample, costs $4.50 a ton; rail transportation from Idaho is much 

 higher. With transportation costs added to production costs, the price 

 of Florida phosphate rock in California approaches $12 a ton, and in 

 Japan about $14 per ton. For this reason, submarine phosphorite de- 

 posits in certain areas like the Thirty- and Forty-Mile Banks oif San 

 Diego and the phosphorite sand deposit in Santo Domingo Bay, Baja 

 California, even if mined at costs higher than those on land, can have 

 promising and important potential advantage. These deposits can com- 

 pete with Florida land deposits for Mexican, Japanese, Australian, 

 and Pacific markets, if they can be mined at recovery and primary 

 beneficiation costs less than $8.50 per ton.*^ The price of phosphate 

 rock at Florida mines is about $7 per ton. Aside from this advantage 

 for special localities, transportation cost is considered a disadvantage 

 for worldwide marketing of submarine phosphorite. On the other 

 hand, logistics are sometimes outweighed by efficient mining practices 

 and particularly marketing. A case in point is that Florida producers 

 are able to sell large tonnages of phosphate rock to West Germany 

 and Italy despite the large nearby reserves of North Africa, particu- 

 larly Morocco (21 billion tons of PaOg).^" The Hashemite Kingdom 

 of Jordan also possesses an excellent grade of phosphate but the in- 

 dustry suffers from logistics and marketing problems.^^ 



The most serious deterrent to offshore phosphorite mining is a lack 

 of knowledge of the marine environment. The lack of experience and a 

 preference for land exploration and exploitation deter the decision 

 makers. This is particularly true of small entrepreneurs whose finan- 

 cial resources are too limited to permit risk-taking. Nevertheless, re- 

 gardless of the arguments and conflicting opinions, the submarine 

 phosphorite deposits seem to have potential economic value, the eco- 

 nomic exploitation of which is only a matter of time. 



*B Overall, op. cit., page 61. 



BO Ibid., page 60. 



°i Political reasons also plagued the Jordanian phosphate industry in its China market. 

 When .Jordan voted with the West agains't seating the People's Republic of China at the 

 U.N., China retaliated immediately by closing its marlset for Jordan's phosphates. 



