The Aurora mine is the largest integrated

phosphate mining In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt (chemistry), salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acids and phosphates, phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of phosphoric acid, orthophosphoric a ...

and

chemical plant A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures (or otherwise processes) chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transform ...

in the world. The mine is located in Richland Township, in

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

Beaufort County, North Carolina Beaufort County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,652. Its county seat is Washington. The county was founded in 1705 as Pamptecough Precinct. Originally included in Bath Cou ...

. The mine, has been owned by

PotashCorp The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018. The company was th ...

since 1995, has an annual production capacity of over six million tonnes of

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...

. In 2008 the mine produced 6.6 million tonnes of phosphate ore from which 1.3 million tonnes of

phosphoric acid Phosphoric acid (orthophosphoric acid, monophosphoric acid or phosphoric(V) acid) is a colorless, odorless phosphorus-containing solid, and inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is commonly encountered as an 85% aqueous solution, w ...

was produced.

History

The

phosphates In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

of the Aurora mine are the result of a recession experienced by the sea coast of Aurora. Phosphates were deposited into the

sea The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

about 15 million years ago. The result was a phosphate ore zone with of low-grade phosphate sand blanketed by other sediments. The ore zone is estimated to be about thick, consisting of phosphate sand, fine

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

. PotashCorp bought the Aurora mine in 1995 from the

Texas Gulf Sulphur Company The Texas Gulf Sulphur Company was one of the largest sulfur mining companies in the world from 1919 to 1981. By 1925 the company controlled 40% of the U.S. sulfur market. It was formed in 1909 and acquired in 1981, after expanding across the Unit ...

as its first phosphate operation, and purchased the

agricultural chemical An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical refers to biocides (pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides) and sy ...

s division of Occidental Chemicals six months later. In 2018, PotashCorp merged with

Agrium Agrium was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in Nor ...

, another Canadian company, to form Nutrien Ltd, current owner of the mine. As of 2005 the Aurora mine had estimated proven and probable reserves of approximately 356 million tonnes of phosphate rock at an average grade of 30.7% P₂O₅.

has rights to exploit an area of of phosphate-bearing reserves, sufficient to support the mine's operations for around 75 years. In 2009 the mine produced 4.2 million tonnes of phosphate rock and 0.93 million tonnes of

and had a number of 1,093 employees. In June 2009,

received permission from the

US Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to mine reserves within the extraterritorial jurisdiction boundaries for a period of 30 years. The phosphate rock is transported by waterway to the deep water port of

Morehead City Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. His ...

, and a railroad links the mining complex to the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

and

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

rail networks.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aurora Mine Buildings and structures in Beaufort County, North Carolina Phosphate mines in the United States Mines in North Carolina

History

See also

References

External links