Phosphorites

Abstract

Phosphorites are rocks composed essentially of carbonate apatites which are usually moderately high in fluorine and consequently are mineralogically francolite. From the standpoint of their economic utilization they must meet certain standards, but low-grade phosphate-containing rocks are widely distributed. Although commercial production in the U.S.A. has been confined largely to Florida, central Tennessee and a western district (including portions of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah), smaller deposits occur in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas. In the Soviet Union extensive phosphorite deposits are found in the Kara-tau area of southern Kazakh SSR.