Pub. 4 2014 Issue 3

MEMBER PROFILE 16 AT THE CENTER OF UTAH INDUSTRY Why Phosphate Matters You probably know that atoms are building blocks and everything in our world consists of different kinds of atoms: • If two or more atoms join together, the combination is called a molecule. • If two or more atoms of different elements join together, it’s a chemical compound. Compounds are always molecules, but it doesn’t go the other direction; a molecule with only one element isn’t a compound. Water is a chemical compound because two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom are all linked together into a single water molecule. Scientists divide chemical compounds into two types: organic and inorganic. Organic chemicals are the ones that can be found in things that are alive, and they almost always have carbon in them. They also often have carbon and hydrogen that have been bonded together. Inorganic compounds are things like salt, metal, and any compound that doesn’t have that mixture of carbon and hydrogen that are bonded together. Phosphate, the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus, is an inorganic chemical that is mined so it can be used by farmers and manufacturers. Phosphate is an industrial mineral with many varied uses, from the lithium ion–phosphate batteries that are in some electric car to an important ingredient in fertilizer and animal feed. Phosphorus is a vitally important element because of the role it plays in all biological systems: • All plants need three main nutrients, or macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. • Other important macronutrients include calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. • There are seven necessary traceminerals, called micronutrients. If soil does not have enough macronutrients or micronutrients, they can be added in the form of fertilizer. In other words, all plants need exactly the right nutrients to grow correctly. Soil that doesn’t have the right nutrients simply won’t grow crops. Thankfully, we have mining to provide the necessary ingredients for the fertilizers we need for the soil. Phosphate