Chatham Rock Phosphate aims to be a major supplier of direct application phosphates to the New Zealand and global agricultural sectors.

What is rock phosphate used for?

Most phosphate rocks are used to produce soluble phosphate fertilizers, but some are used for direct application to soil. While phosphate rock can be a valuable source of phosphorus for plants, it is not always suitable for direct application.

Are Phosphates Harmful?

This is a powdered substance that may irritate the skin, eyes, or mucous membranes. Care should be taken to avoid inhalation or ingestion.

Phosphate rock, phosphate rock, or phosphate rock is a nonclastic sedimentary rock that contains large amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphate rock (or phosphate rock grade) varies widely, from 4%[1] to 20% phosphorus pentoxide (P2O5). Commercially available phosphate ores are enriched ("beneficiated") to at least 28% and usually more than 30% P2O5. This is achieved by washing, screening, deliming, magnetic separation or flotation. [1] In contrast, sedimentary rocks have an average phosphorus content of less than 0.2%. Phosphates occur as fluorapatite Ca5(PO4)3F, usually in cryptocrystalline material (grain size 1 μm), known as colloidal-sedimentary apatite deposits of unknown origin. It also exists as hydroxyapatite Ca5(PO4)3OH or Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 and is usually dissolved from vertebrate bones and teeth, while fluorapatite can be derived from hydrothermal veins. Other sources include chemically dissolved phosphate minerals from igneous and metamorphic rocks. Phosphate deposits often occur in vast formations, cumulatively covering tens of thousands of square kilometers of the Earth's crust.

As of 2006, the United States is the world's leading producer and exporter of phosphate fertilizers, accounting for approximately 37% of world P2O5 exports. As of December 2018, the total amount of proven phosphate rock resources in the world economy was 70 gigatons, mainly in the form of marine sedimentary phosphate rock.