Pub. 4 2014 Issue 3

13 MINING FOCUS drink. For example, someone who has had too much alcohol, is sweating heavily, has diarrhea, is vomiting, or is starving may well benefit from such a drink. Phosphates and Life Phosphates are necessary nutrients for plants, animals, and people. Plants need phosphorus for compounds that are key to photosynthesis. And of course phosphorus is one of the three main macronutrients in fertilizer used to grow the world’s food supply. For people, phosphates are involved in the following: • DNA and RNA genetic material • Cell membranes • Bones and teeth • Energy systems • Cell signaling systems, controlling everything from pH balance to hormones. Calcium phosphates are widely used as a supplement because they provide both calcium and phosphorus. Most people already knowyou need calcium for strong bones and teeth and in order to prevent osteoporosis; what you may not know is that calcium is also the most abundant mineral in your body and is necessary for normal metabolic functions in the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems of your body. A Mining Connection Miners get phosphate salts from minerals that occur naturally. It is possible to get phosphorus from animal bones and urine — in fact, when phosphorus was first isolated, it was isolated from urine by an alchemist named Hennig Brandt in 1669 — but people need more phosphorus than you can get from the available bones and urine, so people turned to mining phosphates. Once mined, the phosphate salts are crushed, refined and purified for use. The rock has to be purified because it also generally contains clay and other minerals. The goal is to take the phosphorus and turn it into phosphoric acid by letting the phosphates react with sulphuric acid. After phosphoric acid has been produced, it can be combined with alkaline salts; specifically, salts with calcium, potassium, and sodium. The reaction between the phosphoric acid and the salts creates purified phosphates. The simplest compound that can be created from phosphoric acid is salts of orthoposphates, which is also called monophosphoric acid. Orthophosphates can be used directly, or heat can be used to transform them into something else. You may not think much about phosphates or how we produce them, but this is one mining product we can’t live without. X BRIAN D. CUNNINGHAM 801.257.1954 BCUNNINGHAM@SWLAW.COM • W. BRIAN HULSE 801.257.1957 BHULSE@SWLAW.COM GATEWAY TOWER WEST | 15 WEST SOUTH TEMPLE | SUITE 1200 | SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84101 DENVER | LAS VEGAS | LOS ANGELES | LOS CABOS | ORANGE COUNTY | PHOENIX | RENO | SALT LAKE CITY | TUCSON Understanding what makes you unique. www.swlaw.com TM Because not all solutions are black and white. TM