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3PR News: Life in the Dead Zone

We’ve all seen this news. I’m sending the article from the Tampa Tribune because they dared to print my opinion on it. Read on….

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/nov/17/171941/mosaic-to-transform-polk-mine-site-into-luxury-res/news-money/

Mosaic to transform Polk mine site into luxury resort

By RAY REYES | The Tampa Tribune
Published: November 17, 2010
Updated: 11/17/2010 07:41 pm

AUBURNDALE – Land scarred from years of excavators gouging the earth for phosphate deposits will soon be home to a luxury resort with 160 guest rooms, five villas and a 20,000-square foot convention center Hills and quarries, created to mine the key mineral for fertilizer, are being transformed into the resort’s two golf courses. Details of how the desolate landscape on 16,000 acres in Polk County will become the Streamsong resort were unveiled today by the tract’s owners, The Mosaic Co. The resort and its adjoining golf courses mark the phosphate-mining giant’s first venture into real estate development. Tourist officials said the construction and operation of the resort creates jobs and gives the local economy a much-needed boost. Some environmental groups are pleased the property will be refurbished and put to good use. But other environmentalists locked in legal disputes with Mosaic remain wary of the company’s every move. “I’ve been watching it with amusement,” Dennis Mader, president of People Protecting Peace River, said of Streamsong’s development. “Their plan is to create a resort out of what I call the dead zone. All I can say is good luck if they truly think they can compete with Orlando or Miami Beach. I wish them well.”
Tom Patton, the executive director of the Central Florida Development Council, said the transformation from phosphate mine to tourist attraction is welcome news for that rural area in southwest Polk. “It’s remarkably exciting,” Patton said. “The long-term effect is the tourism and bringing the visitors in.”

Streamsong, expected to open in 2013, is about five miles east of Ft. Meade on the Polk-Hardee county line. Other planned amenities for the resort include a spa, two lounges, retail stores and outfitters, bass fishing, croquet, a sporting clays range and nature trails.
Construction of the golf courses began over the summer. Bill Coore, of golf course-designing firm Coore & Crenshaw, is building one course. The former mines, Coore said, “contain some of the most unusual, interesting and dramatic land forms we have ever encountered.”
Lead architect Alberto Alfonso, whose father designed Tampa International Airport, said he wanted the resort to take advantage of the rural setting and lakefront views by building a rooftop veranda and other features. “The challenge is to try to keep intimacy for the guest experience on such a big piece of property,” he said. Mosaic spokesman Dave Townsend said more than 70 percent of the 16,000 acres will remain open space. The resort won’t adversely impact adjoining wetlands and other environmentally sensitive lands, he said. “There are no environmental issues on-site that would be a concern,” Townsend said. But Mosaic, and the phosphate mining industry, has been no stranger to controversy. Mader’s environmental group, along with the Sierra Club, has clashed with Mosaic in court over permitting issues involving phosphate mining in Manatee County that Mader said threatens the Peace River. A judge issued an injunction July 23 stopping Mosaic from mining near wetlands; the mining company is appealing the ruling.

Then there is the plethora of scientific studies suggesting radon contamination exists on the sites of old phosphate mines. Guerry McClellan, a former University of Florida geology professor who now runs his own consulting firm, said much of the data conflict.
“This is not a cut and dried business,” McClellan said of scientific research into low-level radiation on land stripped of phosphate. “There’s a whole lot of opinions and very, very few real facts. There’s a conflict of data that doesn’t make much sense.” Mosaic is a historically conservative company that wouldn’t propose a resort like Streamsong if its scientists thought the land was unsafe, McClellan said. “They don’t make a habit of doing screwy things,” he said.
Eric Draper, the executive director of Audubon of Florida, said Mosaic appears to have a solid plan with Streamsong. “Generally, you’ve got to do something with reclaimed land,” Draper said. “It’s better to develop damaged land than go after pristine land.”

Polk officials approved an amendment to the county’s comprehensive plan in June, paving the way for Mosaic’s project, Growth Management Director Tom Deardorff said.
The county has had successful reclaimed land projects before, including the Lakeside Village outdoor mall, the Imperial Lakes Golf Course and the Lakes at Christina subdivision in Lakeland, he said.

[email protected]
(813) 259-7920
News Channel 8 reporter Jennifer Leigh contributed to this report

Morocco Plans 800 Acre Resort Hotel Funded by Fertilizer Cash

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-05/morocco-plans-800-acre-resort-hotel-funded-by-fertilizer-cash.html

By Brendan Borrell and Daniel Grushkin
Nov 5, 2010 11:15 AM ET

Béatrice Montagnier, a hotel specialist with consulting firm Horwath HTL, snapped pictures of an old warehouse and a jumble of sun-baked two-story concrete block homes outside the Moroccan town of Khouribga. It was May 2009 and Paris-based Montagnier was scoping out a planned site for an 800-acre hotel resort and museum. While she worked on details of project layout, one issue — funding — was not a concern. The estimated $1 billion needed to build the resort would come from the ground beneath her feet, Bloomberg Businessweek reports in its Nov. 8 issue. Khouribga and elsewhere in Morocco are home to the world’s biggest known deposits of phosphate, used in fertilizer, detergent, food additives, and more recently lithium-ion batteries. Sold for decades in its raw state for less than $50 per metric ton, it’s currently at about $125, according to World Bank figures. This is good news for Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, 47, who owns more than half the world’s phosphate reserves. Mohammed VI is the unofficial overseer of the state-owned phosphate monopoly, Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP), Morocco’s largest industrial company. Most traders expect OCP to drive the commodity’s price higher, which means the cost of making everything from corn syrup to iPads will be going up. Phosphate as fertilizer is the engine powering modern agriculture, and its reserves are in decline almost everywhere except Morocco. Most phosphate mines, including those in the U.S., which produces 17 percent of global supply, have been in decline for the past decade, running out of quality rock and hindered by environmental regulation. That has forced companies to look farther afield for supplies.

Mosaic, BHP, Potash
Earlier this year, Mosaic Co. spent $385 million for a 35 percent stake in a Peruvian mine to supply rock to its phosphate operations in the U.S. and South America. Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, made a $40 billion hostile takeover offer for Canada’s Potash Corp., a major supplier of both potash and phosphate. Even a temporary phosphate shortage could affect a range of U.S. industries. Phosphate fertilizer is used on just about every crop, though most in the U.S. goes to the 13 billion bushels of corn grown each year to make everything from corn syrup to cattle feed to ethanol. The 2007-08 food crisis gives clues to how a shortage might play out. At that time, rising food prices led to riots across Africa and Asia. Before the crisis was over, China had levied a 135 percent export tariff on its phosphate to protect its domestic food supply; phosphate there is still taxed at 110 percent at the height of the buying season.

85% of World’s Total
The scale of Morocco’s phosphate wealth was officially verified in September, when the International Fertilizer Development Center released its long-awaited update on global phosphate resources. Morocco’s portion went from the 5.7 billion tons still cited in U.S. Geologic Survey reports, to 50 billion tons — 85 percent of the world’s total. Even with 170 million tons of concentrated phosphate changing hands each year, the Moroccans likely have at least 300 to 400 years of rock available.

Talal Zouaoui, OCP’s director of communications, won’t agree or disagree with estimates, but says in an e-mail that Morocco has “significant reserves,” and notes that reserves denote only those quantities that countries have discovered and deem economically viable to extract. With a growing world population consuming more grain, more meat, and more biofuels, demand is expected to rise at a rate of 2 percent to 3 percent per year, according to the International Fertilizer Association. Dana Cordell, co-founder of the Global Phosphorus Research Initiative, predicts that phosphate production will “peak” within the next 50 years.

Fertilizer, Coca-Cola
Not all phosphate becomes fertilizer: about 15 percent is turned into detergents or food additives, such as the tangy phosphoric acid in Coca-Cola, or the moisture-retaining salts in salami.
OCP controls 30 percent of global phosphate exports, and plans to increase annual production from 30 million tons to 54 million tons by 2015, investing $5 billion in the process. By that time, Prayon SA, a Belgian phosphate processor in which OCP owns a 50 percent stake, believes demand for phosphate as a component of the lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles could exceed demand for it in detergent. At September’s World Fertilizer Conference in San Francisco, Morocco’s ascendancy was the main topic of conversation.

Hotel Hopping
Asked about OCP, trader Mark Mangassarian answered with a question: “Oh, you mean the guys who are trying to drive up phosphate prices the most?” Mangassarian, who is assistant vice-president for sales at Nitron International in Stamford, Conn., spent three days doing deals at the San Francisco conference hopping from suite to suite at the Westin St. Francis on Union Square. Though the industry average for diammonium phosphate fertilizer has hovered around $500 this summer, the executives he sat down with weren’t willing to go below $550. A few weeks later, Mangassarian came to see it their way, and is paying $560. OCP’s tough negotiating tactics have irritated many in the industry. “You try to talk to them, and they don’t answer. They’ve always been like that. That’s their strategy,” says Taoufik Meddeb, who buys sulfur for Groupe Chimique Tunisien, another state-owned company and OCP’s biggest competitor in North Africa. “God just put the phosphate there,” said Jamal Bensari, a member of OCP’s delegation. “It is our only resource, and it is our responsibility.” ‘Quasi-Impossible’ OCP’s current communications director Zouaoui declined to arrange interviews for Bloomberg Businessweek following multiple requests in September and October. “It is quasi-impossible right now,” he explained. In a separate e-mail, he also noted that OCP is “subject to customary international governance standards for a global corporation, including transparency and accountability.”

Mohammed VI, called the King of the Poor for his efforts to raise Morocco’s living standards, has about $2 billion in assets, which places him seventh on Forbes’ list of the richest royals. That’s far behind Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai but well ahead of the Prince of Monaco. Although he is not technically the head of state, he has control of the country as both a secular and religious leader. He appoints the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, and has the power to overrule or dissolve the elected Parliament. His portrait adorns the first page of OCP’s annual reports, and his face appears in nearly every home and coffee shop. The Moroccan Embassy did not respond to requests for interviews with the King.

Disputed Territory
Western Sahara is a disputed territory. It’s also where Morocco’s best phosphate lies. The region known to the King as “Moroccan Sahara” begins just south of the fishing village of Tarfaya on the Atlantic coast. The UN calls it “the non-self- governing territory of Western Sahara” and deems it “occupied.” It’s a place where phosphate rumbles to the coast on the world’s longest conveyor belt, while tanks and soldiers roam alongside, defending the shipments from Sahrawi separatists.
When Spain withdrew from Western Sahara in 1975, some 350,000 Moroccans marched into the region with tents on their backs. The native Sahrawi fought back for 16 years under the leadership of the Algerian-backed Polisario rebels, signing a cease-fire in 1991. The UN continues to monitor the agreement with 215 uniformed peacekeepers, but a planned vote on self- determination has been repeatedly delayed. Today, approximately 90,000 Sahrawi live in refugee camps in Algeria, separated from their families in Moroccan-controlled territory by a 1,400-mile- long berm dotted with land mines.

Land Mines
OCP reports that just 2 percent of Morocco’s phosphate lies in the Phousboucraa mine at Bou Craa in Western Sahara, and that it accounts for 6 percent of sales. Companies in Australia and Norway have said they no longer use phosphate mined in Western Sahara. In August, Mosaic told the advocacy group Western Sahara Resource Watch that it has stopped buying rock from the territory. The U.S., in addition to needing the phosphate, sees Morocco as an ally in the war against terrorism. Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reaffirmed U.S. support for Morocco’s plan of “limited autonomy” for the territory, which stops short of the independence demanded by the Polisario.

Private Riads
Montagnier finished her consulting contract last year, but her employer, Horwath, has a small office in Rabat and is working on other projects. The King opened the Royal Mansour Marrakech hotel this year, with private riads — the traditional style of home with a courtyard and garden — going for $2,200 per night. For Khouribga, Montagnier has settled on three stars for the hotel, but says the final room tally awaits approval by OCP. Architects put the total price on the project, known as Mine Verte, at 665 million euros ($937 million). “Khouribga is the world capital of phosphates,” says Founoun Mohammed, 48, a subcontractor overseeing the first stages of a pipeline that will deliver phosphate in slurry form from Khouribga to the port of Jorf Lasfar south of Casablanca, 146 miles away. After work he settles down at the back of a favorite restaurant and talks business over seafood paella. A bottle of Moroccan wine is not to his liking, and he orders a French red for the table. “People will come from Europe, the United States, everywhere to see Khouribga. It will raise the level of the city.” He is in high spirits and pours a glass of wine for the waiter, who tosses it back in a single gulp. Mohammed says he loves his country: He is safe and has a good job, what else can he ask for? “The King,” he says, “is a gentleman.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Brendan Borrell at [email protected]; Daniel Grushkin through Bryant Urstadt in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amanda Jordan at [email protected]

Zolfo Springs ranch site yields a rare fossil find

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101029/ARTICLE/10291043/2416/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall

By Billy Cox
Published: Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 11:04 p.m.

HARDEE COUNTY – Sarasota attorney Bill Harrison was walking his 700-acre ranch after a summer rain when something peculiar caught his eye. Erosion had sheared the face from a 6-foot sandy clay embankment overlooking a exposed a true mystery.

“When I saw that thing sticking out, I thought, ‘What in the world would Indians have been doing so deep down in those layers?’ It made me think maybe it was a piece of a big bull that had washed down the creek and bleached out.”
Harrison began digging around, and soon found another bone.
After he e-mailed photos to family members, friends and the University of Florida, his discovery in August was confirmed as the massive molar and scapula — part of the bony shoulder girdle — of a mammoth species believed to have died off 11,000 years ago.
For paleontologist Dr. Richard Hulbert, who has been recovering Florida fossils for 30 years, the find was a first.
“I’ve worked on mastodon digs and on much older sites,” said Hulbert, taking a break Wednesday afternoon beside a small stack of huge ribs embedded in the banks of the Peace River tributary meandering near Zolfo Springs in Hardee County. “And I’ve found mammoth bones here and there. But this is my first mammoth skeleton.”
A Columbian mammoth, to be exact, and among the last of the native North American elephants to go extinct.
Hulbert, collections manager of vertebrate paleontology with the Florida Museum of Natural History, visited the site in August, and Harrison agreed to donate the discovery to science.
Excavation began Oct. 18, after the water levels in Charlie Creek began to recede.
A descendant of the forest-dwelling Woolly Mammoth, the Columbian was a slightly larger prairie forager with longer legs. After having recovered 60 to 70 percent of the skeleton, Hulbert estimates this young adult stood 15 feet tall at the shoulders and weighed 3,000 to 4,000 pounds.
But its tusks are missing, as are parts of its pelvic bone, so its gender has yet to be determined.
With an assist from a backhoe and a front-end loader, two vanloads of material, including the skull, were hauled to Gainesville earlier this month. Bison, llama, and giant land tortoise fragments have also been recovered.
One femur was so big, it took up the entire scoop of a front-end loader.
“Oh, it’s been exciting,” says Harrison, a senior attorney with Williams Parker in Sarasota. “We’ve had all kinds of volunteers around here helping out. We’ve had an airline pilot, a school teacher from Jacksonville, a dentist and a Boy Scout. Some people really get hooked on this stuff.”
Hulbert says recruiting volunteers to help on digs is rarely a problem, but maintaining security on private property — and getting landowners to cooperate — can be dicey. Harrison’s donation, he says, marks only the second major Columbian skeleton recovered from Southwest Florida.
Hulbert points to the strata to illustrate the nature of luck in preservation. Had the elephant died a couple of feet in another direction, it would likely have decomposed quickly in a layer of powdered sand instead of in soil that allowed minerals to leach into and solidify its bones.
So far, this particular creature shows no sign of predation.
Climate change and encounters with early humans are believed to have contributed to the extinction of America’s indigenous pachyderms.
Recently, Hulbert analyzed a controversial piece of evidence suggestive of human-mammoth interaction and could find no sign of obvious fraud.
In 2009, a fossil collector named James Kennedy was cleaning off an ancient, 15-inch-long bone he recovered from a site in Vero Beach two years earlier when he discovered it had an etching of a mammoth on all fours, complete with curved tusks.
Smithsonian Institute paleontologists who examined the bone have also tentatively agreed that the etching, like the bone itself, is prehistoric.
“If it turns out to be what we think it is, it’s the oldest evidence of realistic art in North America,” Hulbert says.
The fossils recovered from Harrison’s property will be housed and studied at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

3PR Letter to Ledger: Mosaic’s Permit Was Deficient

To Editor
The Lakeland Ledger
October 21, 2010
Yeah, phosphate mining’s been part of Bartow’s life and culture for nearly a century – and it permanently destroyed your most precious resource: Kissengen Springs. So why should we stand by and watch that destruction to the lower Peace River and Charlotte Harbor Estuary?

If Mr. Ron Kelly “understands what he reads” then he would know that know that the reason there is a court injunction on Mosaic’s S. Ft. Meade Mine Extension is precisely because the Army Corps of Engineers’ Dredge and Fill (404) Permit was determined to be deficient in several areas by a federal court judge. If Mosaic’s permit was so perfect then why did the judge determine to grant a preliminary injunction stating: “Mosaic’s alternatives analysis, as well as the Corps verification of the same, was incomplete.” The injunction was ordered because the court understands that it is not in the public interest to destroy wetlands unnecessarily and that even if wetland restoration is successful (EPA says it is not) there is a time lag of a decade or more between mining and restoration.

It is ridiculous to direct his anger at Mr. Huber, the environmental plaintiff’s attorney based in Colorado. (Remember Mosaic’s headquarters are in Minneapolis, and their CEO is a Canadian). The lawsuit was filed locally by Sierra Club, represented in Polk, Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte Counties; by 3PR based in Wauchula; and by Manasota-88 based in Manatee and Sarasota Counties. The destruction of wetlands in Hardee County will have its effect on freshwater flows to Charlotte Harbor 80 miles downstream which is the base of the coastal counties’ economy as well as a source of drinking water.

I have been involved in this lawsuit from its inception. Mosaic was offered a portion of the S. Ft. Meade Extension mine to continue operating. It was their choice to refuse it. The environmental plaintiffs offered to mediate before the preliminary injunction was ordered. Mosaic refused. When mediation negotiations finally began and an agreement to allow mining to begin was imminent Mosaic filed another motion in court derailing the process. Now Mr. Huber is preoccupied responding to Mosaic’s latest motion to stay – he is no longer available to negotiate a settlement.

Mr. Huber was correct: If Mosaic employees are laid off it’s due to the choices of the Mosaic management and legal team, and has nothing to do with him and the environmental plaintiffs.

According to the latest Rate of Reclamation Report, issued by the state, only 4% of the existing S. Fort Meade Mine has been reclaimed and released. When deep water drilling was shut down for spewing oil all over the Gulf of Mexico they kept their workers busy cleaning and upgrading equipment. Why can’t Mosaic do the same? Mosaic made around $300 million profit in the last financial quarter – yet they lay off workers while their insufficient permit is adjudicated. (Wake up, phosphate workers! Profits over People)

Mosaic’s Dredge and Fill permit was deficient according to a federal court. They have to answer to the public for that the same way you would if your building didn’t pass inspection.

Please visit our website for more information on phosphate mining’s effect on the aquifers of central Florida: www.protectpeaceriver.org

Dennis Mader
President 3PR (People for Protecting Peace River Inc)
Wauchula, FL

Read Ron Kelly’s letter below:

The Lakeland Ledger

Published: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:48 p.m.
I’m writing to take issue with comments made by Eric Huber of the Sierra Club in the latest article about the club’s litigation to stop mining at Mosaic’s South Fort Meade mine.
Mr. Huber, the Sierra Club’s attorney, claims that it is Mosaic’s fault that the workers at South Fort Meade may lose their jobs. I find it ironic that a Sierra Club attorney from Colorado, who represents the organization whose lawsuit precipitated this entire situation, wants us to believe the Sierra Club is not responsible. Do he and his partners in San Francisco who initiated this lawsuit really believe the residents of Polk County are that gullible?
Polk County residents understand phosphate mining. It’s been a part of our lives and culture for more than a century. When we read articles about phosphate in the paper, we understand what we read.
It’s clear to us that this was a very thorough permitting process and that Mosaic went to great lengths to make sure the permit was protective of the environment. Apparently, the Sierra Club thinks it can point the finger at Mosaic and we’ll all go along with it. We’re smarter than that and we know they are responsible for the Polk County residents that are losing their jobs as a result of the lawsuit.
Mosaic has been a great supporter of so many organizations and good causes in Polk County and now they deserve our support. Mosaic employees are our friends and neighbors.
It appears that the Sierra Club is not happy with just putting some of them out of work, it also feels it necessary to attack their character. I, for one, cannot let that go unanswered.
RON KELLY
Bartow

3PR News: Sarasota County Preps for EIS scoping process….

Sarasota County’s assistant attorney, David Pearce, sent a lengthy memorandum to Water Resource Manager, Jack Merriam, outlining the legal parameters of the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) recently undertaken by the Army Corps of Engineers. The following “connected actions” were excerpted from the memo. They describe the environmental impacts of phosphate mining and fertilizer manufacturing. The entire memo will soon be posted on the 3PR website www.protectpeaceriver.org

1. Connected Actions – Site Preparation
2. Connected Actions – Topsoil and Muck Removal, Storage, and Redistribution
3. Connected Actions – Severing Connection to Surficial Aquifer and Dewatering
4. Connected Actions – Uplands and Isolated Wetlands
5. Connected Actions – Operation of Beneficiation Plants
6. Connected Actions – Consumptive Use of Water
Connection Actions – Waste Water Discharge
8. Connected Actions – Waste Management
9. Connected Actions – Phosphogypsum Stacks

Click to read entire article

DCT responds in Opposition

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
SIERRA CLUB, INC.; PEOPLE FOR
PROTECTING THE PEACE RIVER, INC.;
and MANASOTA-88, INC.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS; and COLONEL ALFRED A.
PANTANO, JR.,
Defendants,
and
MOSAIC FERTILIZER, LLC,
Defendant-Intervenor.
)
)
)
Case No.
3:10-cv-00564-HLA-JBT
PLAINTIFFS’ RESPONSE TO INTERVENING DEFENDANT,
MOSAIC FERTILIZER, LLC’S MOTION FOR LIMITED STAY OF
PRELIMINARY INJUCTION PENDING APPEAL

Click to read entire document: https://protectpeaceriver.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Resp-in-Opp-Mot-to-Stay-FINAL-EH-8-29-10.pdf

Legal: Williams declaration

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
SIERRA CLUB, INC.; PEOPLE FOR
PROTECTING THE PEACE RIVER,
INC.; and MANASOTA-88, INC.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF
ENGINEERS; and COLONEL ALFRED
A. PANTANO, JR.,
Defendants,
and
MOSAIC FERTILIZER, LLC,
Defendant-Intervenor.
)
)
)
Case No. 3:10-cv-00564-HLA-JBT
DECLARATION OF AMBER E. WILLIAMS

To see entire document: https://protectpeaceriver.org/wp-admin/media.php?action=edit&attachment_id=261

Legal: Winchester 2nd declaration

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
SIERRA CLUB, INC.; PEOPLE FOR PROTECTING
PEACE RIVER, INC;, and, MANASOTA—88, INC.
Plaintiffs,
v. Case No.: 3:10-cv-00564-HLA-JBT
UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS;
and COLONEL ALFRED A. PANTANO, JR.,
Commanding District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, Jacksonville District,
Defendant.
__________________________________________________
SECOND DECLARATION OF BRIAN H. WINCHESTER

Click for entire document: https://protectpeaceriver.org/wp-admin/media.php?action=edit&attachment_id=260

The Mosaic Company Reports Strong Fiscal Year 2010 Fourth Quarter Earnings Growth

Page 1/13 8/26/2010
The Mosaic Company Reports Strong Fiscal Year 2010 Fourth Quarter Earnings Growth
July 22, 2010 4:21 PM ET
PLYMOUTH, Minn., July 22, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —

The Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) announced today net earnings of $396.1 million, or $0.89 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter ended May 31, 2010. These results compare with net earnings of $146.9 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter ended May 31, 2009.

KEY ITEMS
Total phosphate sales volumes were 2.3 million tonnes and the average diammonium phosphate (DAP) selling pricewas $438 per tonne Potash sales volumes rebounded from 0.6 million tonnes a year ago to 1.8 million tonnes and the average muriate of potash (MOP) selling price was $336 per tonne
Gross margin as a percent of net sales improved to 37 percent, compared to 13 percent in the prior year. Foreign currency transaction losses were $0.6 million versus losses of $297.9 million, or $0.42 per share last year Income tax expense was $138.8 million compared to a benefit of $330.3 million a year ago Cash flow from operating activities was $532.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 an improvement of $226.3 million from the prior year

The Company maintained a strong financial position with cash and cash equivalents of $2.5 billion as of May 31, 2010 A recently issued permit for an extension of Mosaic’s South Fort Meade phosphate rock mine is being challenged in Federal court. If a preliminary injunction requested by the plaintiffs is granted, the Company’s phosphate operations could be impacted Mosaic had net sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 of $1.9 billion, an increase from $1.6 billion, or 17 percent, compared to the same period last year. Mosaic’s gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 was $687.6 million, or 37 percent of net sales, compared with $204.1 million, or 13 percent of net sales, a year ago. Fourth quarter operating earnings were $547.6 million, an improvement of $421.3 million over the prior year. The increases in gross margin and operating earnings were primarily due to improved phosphates selling prices, lower sulfur costs and increased potash sales volumes, partially offset by lower potash selling prices. “We are pleased with our strong fourth quarter results,” said Jim Prokopanko, Mosaic’s President, and Chief Executive Officer. “Crop nutrient application rates and shipments have snapped back from last year’s levels and a strong recovery in both the phosphates and potash markets is underway.”

Phosphates
Net sales in the Phosphates segment were $1.2 billion for the fourth quarter, comparable to the prior year. Phosphates’ fourth quarter gross margin was $306.6 million, or 26 percent of net sales, compared with a loss of $31.9 million for the same period a year ago. Operating earnings were $221.1 million, an increase of $300.3 million over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, primarily due to higher selling prices and lower sulfur costs. In addition, fiscal 2009 fourth quarter results included a $61.4 million inventory lower of cost or market write-down. The average fourth quarter DAP selling price, FOB plant, was $438 per tonne, compared to $365 a year ago and $336 in the
third quarter of fiscal 2010. Phosphates segment total sales volumes were 2.3 million tonnes, compared to 2.5 million tons a year ago. Declines in International and Blend crop nutrient volumes from the year-ago quarter were partially offset by an increase in North American crop nutrient demand. Mosaic’s North American phosphate production was 1.9 million tonnes compared with 2.0 million tons a year ago.