Phosphate

White Springs

Operations

White Springs mines phosphate ore and refines it into phosphate rock, which is mixed with sulfuric acid to produce phosphoric acid.
Annual capacity – 4.0 million tons of phosphate rock, 1.1 million tons of phosphoric acid, 0.4 million tons of phosphate feed

Performance

Significant Events

• Shut down chemical plants at Swift Creek and Suwannee River in latter part of 2008 due to market conditions. Performed maintenance, cleaning and upgrades that are difficult or not possible during normal operation.
• To reduce potential contract employee injuries, we began a targeted, comprehensive program that included key procedure audits, Safer Workplace Achieved Together (SWAT) observations by company supervisors and SWAT training. Significant progress was made in 2008 – the goal is to have no contract employee injuries in 2009.
• Required all operations and maintenance workers to attend SWAT observer training; placed increased emphasis on SWAT observations and coached key procedure audits. White Springs finished the last quarter with no lost-time injuries.

Safety Milestones

• Mine operations achieved one million hours without a lost-time injury.
• Chemical operations achieved one million hours without a lost-time injury.
• The Swift Creek chemical complex achieved one year without a recordable injury.

Community Contributions

• Contributed $120,179 to community social initiatives in the tri-county area in 2008; much of this went to the United Way of Suwannee Valley campaign. Other donations went to local community, education and support activities, recreation initiatives and other charitable organizations.
• Made in-kind contributions to the community totaling $29,048. Beneficiaries included Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch, United Way of Suwannee Valley, Hamilton District Schools, Columbia District Schools and Suwannee District Schools.
• Our partnerships with local schools and colleges are:
  • Hamilton County High School Vocational Partnership (fifth year)
  • Lake City Community College Educational Foundation
  • Member of Suwannee County Educational Foundation
  • Member of Hamilton County School District School Advisory Committee
  • Member of South Hamilton Elementary School Advisory Council
  • Member of Suwannee Hamilton Technical Center Vocational Education Advisory Board
  • Business partner with South Hamilton Elementary, our adopted school

Donated to the Lake City Community College Foundation, which awarded four PCS White Springs scholarships in 2008.

Awards

• Received the Shining Star Award from the Florida Commissioner of Education for Outstanding Support of Education in Hamilton County.
• Received a Platinum Award from the United Way of Suwannee Valley; employees raised $88,204, which the company matched for a total donation of $176,408.
• Received a plaque from South Hamilton Elementary for being a key business partner.
• Swift Creek mill placed third in the US Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration's 2007 Sentinels of Safety competition for the large metal/non-metal mill group.

Environmental Initiatives

• Remediated a sinkhole at a gypsum stack; extensive monitoring detected no environmental impacts from this event. The remediation work was completed in November 2008.
• Reclamation continued to keep pace with mine production.

Local Procurement

• Made local purchases in 2008 of goods, materials and services totaling $109.7 million, or 74 percent of all expenditures (excluding major expansions, raw materials, energy and transportation).