Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the The United Nations
Igneous deposits
Sedimentary deposits
Island deposits
Active Phosphate Reserves by Country
Known Igneous & Sedimentary Phosphorites
Igneous Vs Sedimentary Phosphorite Comparison
Only 4% of world phosphate deposits are of igneous rock type of which 50% are located in Russia.
First Phosphate properties consist of Igneous Massif-Type Anorthosite which represent 1% of the world’s phosphate deposits.
Igneous anorthosite rock yields the highest purity phosphate devoid of high concentrations of deleterious heavy metals.
Igneous Anorthosite based phosphate has the potential to yield the highest purity, ESG-driven, carbon-neutral phosphate for the global LFP battery industry.
Deposit Type
Igneous Carbonatite
Igneous Massif-Type Anorthosite
Sedimentary
Host Rock
Carbonatite
Massif-Type Anorthosite
Upwelling-Related Sedimentary Rocks
Distribution
4% of global deposits
1% of global deposits
95% of global deposits
Shape Of Ore Bodies
Veins and Lenses
Sheets and Lenses
Bedded (stratiform)
Rare of Earth Elements
High
Low
Variable
Deleterious Trace Elements
Low
Low
High
Organic Matter
None
None
High
Phosphate Mineralogy
Apatite
Apatite
Carbonate Fluorapatite
Associated Minerals
Calcite, Dolomite, Magnetite
Pyroxene, Plagioclase, Ilmenite, Magnetite
Quartz, Clay Minerals, Calcite, Dolomite
P2O5 Content
~5 to 15 wt%
~5 to 15 wt%
~8 to 35 wt%
Source
Mantle > 50 km depth)
Mantle/Crust (~ 30 to 50 km depth)
Upwelling-related organic matter
Mineralization Processes
High temperature crystallization in magma
High temperature crystallization and gravitational settling in magma
Phosphate precipitation in accumulating sediment
Source: Dr. Sandeep Banerjee, Postdoctoral Fellow/ Researcher Queen's University
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