Aurora

Operations

Aurora mines phosphate ore and refines it into phosphate rock, which is mixed with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid.
Annual capacity – 6.6 million tons of phosphate rock, 1.3 million tons of phosphoric acid and 0.2 million tons of phosphate feed

Performance

Significant Events

• Received a special use permit for mining within the Aurora extra-territorial jurisdiction boundary; also obtained Coastal Area Management Act consistency concurrence for mine continuation and received permits to support facility production requirements.
• Commissioned and successfully started up silicon tetrafluoride units 2, 3 and 4 during the first quarter of 2008; set an annual record for silicon tetrafluoride production.
• Commissioned two phosphoric acid evaporators for hydrofluorosilicic acid production in the first quarter; set annual production records.
• Commissioned the No. 1A cooling pond, which will support four new evaporators scheduled for start-up in third-quarter 2009 for phosphoric acid production.
• Commenced construction of #7 sulfuric acid plant.

Community Relations

• Strong public support for the mine permitting process continued.
• Held 65 meetings with state legislators, regulators or their aides in 2008, at which we discussed mine continuation, and air quality permits and regulatory inspections.

Community Support

• Made cash donations to local community organizations totaling $225,000 in 2008; main recipients were the United Way, Aurora Fossil Museum, East Carolina University, Capital Area YMCA and Public Radio East.
• Made in-kind contributions totaling $95,611 to Bonner Boy Scout Camp, Pantego Volunteer Fire Department, Pamlico County, Belhaven Fire Department and City of Washington.
• Continued to be involved with many Aurora education partnerships, including engineering co-op partnerships with North Carolina State University, Virginia Tech, Beaufort Community College, Pitt Community College, Pamlico Community College, Craven Community College and East Carolina University.
• Provided welding supplies and helped upgrade the welding facility at Southside High School.

Awards

• Received multiple awards from the North Carolina Department of Labor in 2008.
• Received the Silver Award from the Craven County American Cancer Relay for Life, Gold Award from the Beaufort and Pamlico Counties American Cancer Relay for Life, US Marine Corps Reserve Award for Outstanding Contributions for Toys for Tots, Children's Miracle Network Partners in Hope Award and Hero Award from the American Red Cross.
• Won the Norfolk Southern Thoroughbred Safety Award.

Environmental Initiatives

• Approximately six acres of the R-2 reclamation area were capped with at least three feet of soil to reduce the potential for biological uptake of cadmium and other heavy metals from gypsum/clay blend reclamation soil.
• Completed wetland restoration of the 713-acre Bay City Farm in March 2008; approximately 220,000 tree and shrub seedlings were planted.
• Began restoration work in November 2008 on the 217-acre Back Creek restoration project; the area will be returned to its original wetland state.
• Began to replace two sulfuric acid plants with a single energy-efficient plant that incorporates a heat recovery unit; the existing turbo generator will be upgraded to use steam generated by the plant to generate electricity.
• Started work on a wastewater treatment project in 2008.

Local Procurement

• Made local purchases in 2008 of goods, materials and services totaling $155.7 million, or 61 percent of all expenditures (excluding major expansions, raw materials, energy and transportation).

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Annual Production (000 tons)
Phosphate rock	4,370.0	4,869.0	5,045.0	4,045.0	4,437.7
Phosphoric acid	1,122.0	1,155.0	1,190.0	1,194.0	1,161.5
Employment
# of employees	1,045	1,034	1,039	1,071	1,094
# of female employees	41	46	48	51	56
Gender ratio (% female/total employees)	3.9	4.4	4.6	4.8	5.1
Average tenure (years)	16.8	18.0	19.1	16.2	15.4
Absenteeism rate (% hours absent)	3.5	4.0	3.5	3.5	3.7
Employee training (hrs per employee)	66	36	34	67	73
Safety Performance
Lost-time frequency (per 200,000 hrs)	0.09	0.27	0.38	0.38	0.29
Recordable frequency (per 200,000 hrs)	1.33	1.44	1.61	1.37	1.40
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
GHG emissions (000 tons)	806	804	713	826	772
Normalized GHGs (GHGs/ton production)	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.7
Criteria/Significant Air Pollutants (tons)
Nitrogen oxides	618	699	688	742	687
Carbon monoxide	409	410	436	537	441
Particulates (dust)	257	309	286	732	593
Sulfur dioxide	5,780	6,142	5,127	4,785	5,822
Ammonia	492	504	552	715	695
Hydrogen sulfide	1,510	1,403	1,426	1,315	1,455
Waste to Land (000 tons)
Gypsum	6,185	6,381	6,578	6,561	6,367
Water Use (million gallons)
Water withdrawn	21,941	20,427	21,973	23,525	22,371
Recycled water	121,557	130,893	135,333	127,052	124,515
Environmental Expenditures ($ million)
Operating expenditures	29.8	39.1	42.7	45.1	51.6
Capital expenditures	1.7	2.4	0.8	3.3	38.0
Energy
Energy costs ($ million)	29.3	35.7	43.1	49.3	65.0
Energy use (BBtu)	4,874	5,209	4,982	4,901	5,400
Energy efficiency (MMBtu/ton production)	4.8	5.0	4.6	4.1	4.6
Procurement
Local purchasing ($ million)	61.6	79.2	122.7	148.4	155.7
Source: PotashCorp