Hidden beneath parts of Morocco and Western Sahara is an estimated 50 billion metric tons of phosphate rock, representing about 68% of the world’s reported phosphate reserves, Could Strengthen the Global Supply of fertilizer and for Clean Energy

 

A Massive Phosphate Reserve Could Strengthen the Global Supply of Materials Needed for Clean Energy

Hidden beneath parts of Morocco and Western Sahara is an estimated 50 billion metric tons of phosphate rock, representing about 68% of the world’s reported phosphate reserves. Phosphate is far more important than it sounds: roughly 90% of mined phosphate is used for agriculture, making it essential for global food production.

Phosphorus also has applications in clean-energy technologies. Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries, increasingly used in electric vehicles and energy storage, contain phosphate-based cathode materials. But phosphate does not literally “power Earth for 50 years”—it is a raw material that can support technologies used to generate and store energy.

Meanwhile, Norge Mining has reported a potentially enormous 70-billion-ton phosphate-rock resource in southwestern Norway, which the company says could help meet global demand for fertilizer, EV batteries and renewable-energy storage for decades. Turning such resources into usable materials, however, will require mining, processing, infrastructure and careful environmental management.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); Norge Mining; World Economic Forum.

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