Manatee extends Mosaic phosphate mining permit through 2044. Here’s what to know

Manatee County commissioners voted 5-2 to give Mosaic a 14-year extension on its Four Corners Mine permit, allowing a world leader in phosphate mining to continue local operations.

The decision allows the largest phosphate mine in Florida to keep operating and expands its boundary by more than 1,000 acres.

FULL STORY: Manatee County officials extend Mosaic’s controversial phosphate mining permit

Here are key takeaways:

• Mosaic can now mine through 2044 and must complete land reclamation by the end of 2055. Under the previous plan, mining would have ended by 2030 with reclamation finished by 2041.
• The extension also expanded the Four Corners Mine boundary to include the East Duette Tract, an additional 1,162 acres. Mosaic says the tract was already approved for mining in 2018 and involves no new disturbance.
• The Four Corners Mine covers about 13,000 acres in northeast Manatee County, employs roughly 440 people and generates about 8 million tons of phosphate per year, according to the company.
• Commissioners Bob McCann and Carol Ann Felts voted against the extension. Felts said she saw no reason Mosaic couldn’t finish within the original deadline: “We have to start weaning ourselves from an industry that has consequences.”
• Glenn Compton, chairman of environmental nonprofit ManaSota-88, opposed the extension, saying “whatever can go wrong, probably will go wrong” over 14 more years of mining.
• Commissioner Amanda Ballard said the mine has national agriculture implications, calling phosphate mining a “significant public benefit to literally our entire country.”

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.