Market and product

Every year, the world mines more than 220 million tonnes of phosphate ore to produce fertilizer. Concealed within that ore is approximately 14,000 tonnes of uranium — equivalent to nearly 16% of global uranium output — most of which is currently discharged into the environment along with fertilizer rather than being recovered.

Uranium in phosphate ore — the world's largest untapped unconventional resource

Sedimentary phosphate ore — which accounts for more than 75% of global reserves — typically contains uranium at concentrations of 50 to 200 mg/kg, sufficient to classify it as a "low-grade uranium ore" under international standards. The average uranium concentration in Earth's continental crust is just 2.8 mg/kg, yet at many commercial phosphate mines the concentration exceeds that found at operating uranium mines in Namibia. The Minjingu deposit in Tanzania records uranium concentrations of 390–446 mg/kg, while the Khouribga deposit in Morocco — the world's largest, with 26.8 billion tonnes in reserve — averages around 130 mg/kg.

Taken together, the uranium associated with global phosphate reserves is estimated at nearly 6.3 million tonnes — comparable in scale to the total identified commercially recoverable uranium resources of 6.1 million tonnes. This represents the largest unconventional nuclear resource in the world, yet it remains almost entirely unexploited.

The history of uranium recovery from phosphate: from peak to abandonment

During the wet process phosphoric acid (WPA) production method — which accounts for more than 85% of global fertilizer output — approximately 80–90% of the uranium in phosphate ore transfers into the liquid acid stream, creating a natural opportunity for recovery through solvent extraction. This was commercially exploited from as early as the 1950s. The peak period ran from 1978 to 1992, when dozens of plants in the United States, Belgium, Canada, Iraq, and Taiwan operated simultaneously; at its height, the US recovered up to 20% of its national uranium output from phosphate sources.

The best-proven technology was the two-cycle DEPA/TOPO solvent extraction process, achieving uranium recovery rates above 92–95% from WPA solution, with operating costs (OPEX) of approximately USD 11–18 per lb U₃O₈ in present-value terms. When uranium prices fell sharply in the late 1990s, all these plants shut down — not because the technology was unworkable, but because the economics no longer held.

Why the topic is back: three new drivers

The first driver is uranium supply security. In 2021, commercial uranium mining covered only 79% of global reactor demand, with the remainder drawn from secondary sources. Many countries that operate or are planning nuclear power plants — from the Philippines to Saudi Arabia — have no domestic uranium deposits, yet import and process substantial volumes of phosphate ore. Uranium recovery from phosphate could supply 12–21% of the annual uranium requirement of a mid-sized nuclear power plant, and could be brought online within 2–3 years rather than the 10–15 years typically needed to develop a new mine.

The second driver is environmental risk. When not recovered, uranium — a radiotoxic heavy metal — passes into fertilizer products and ultimately into agricultural soils and groundwater. Uranium concentrations in finished fertilizers range from 26 to 228 mg/kg depending on ore origin, and several EU countries are considering maximum-limit regulations. Recovering uranium not only generates a nuclear fuel supply but also substantially reduces radioactive contamination from agricultural use.

The third driver is technological progress. The PhosEnergy project, developed by Cameco and Uranium Equities, successfully demonstrated a new ion exchange process in Florida with recovery rates above 92% and an estimated cost of USD 21/lb U₃O₈ — roughly 50% lower than historical commercial plants. Although the project has not yet progressed to full industrial scale, it confirms the potential for meaningful cost reduction.

Five country case studies: distinct opportunities and constraints

Argentina presents a particularly striking case: the country bans domestic uranium mining but must import all uranium at prices 30–40% above global spot market levels due to transport costs and taxes. It simultaneously imports phosphate ore from Morocco, Peru, and Senegal — all with uranium concentrations above 60 mg/kg. If domestic fertilizer production were expanded in proportion to current import ratios, Argentina could self-supply 18–21% of its future uranium demand from phosphate sources.

Brazil holds the Itataia deposit — the country's largest uranium reserve — with approximately 142,200 tonnes of uranium intermixed with phosphate at a concentration of 998 mg/kg U₃O₈. Extraction is planned to begin in 2026, reaching full capacity in 2029 with 2,300 tonnes of U₃O₈ and 1 million tonnes of fertilizer produced annually.

The Philippines has no conventional uranium reserves due to its geologically young formation, but is a major regional fertilizer producer that imports significant volumes of phosphate ore from Togo (114 mg/kg uranium), Morocco, and Algeria. Between 14 and 26 tonnes of uranium could be recovered annually from imported ore — meeting 12–21% of the uranium requirement for the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant upon its potential recommissioning.

Saudi Arabia plans to build 15 nuclear reactors by 2040, requiring approximately 3,750 tonnes of uranium annually. From phosphate ore currently being mined, the country could potentially recover 447–596 tonnes of uranium per year — covering 12–16% of projected future demand, and roughly 80 times the uranium recoverable from seawater desalination in the same period.

Tanzania's Minjingu deposit records uranium concentrations of 300–400 ppm and is processed using a unique dry beneficiation method that does not produce phosphoric acid as an intermediate. This creates both an opportunity — uranium recovery could generate USD 3.9–5.2 million in annual revenue — and a technical challenge, as no uranium recovery process has yet been designed specifically for this dry processing route.

From the report

"Uranium from phosphates could once again be considered a conventional uranium resource if uranium prices rise or if technological advancements make uranium recovery from phosphate ores more affordable. The 2–3 years needed to add uranium recovery units to existing WPA fertilizer plants is considerably shorter than the 10–20 years typically required to develop a new mine site." — IAEA TECDOC-2086 (2025), N. Haneklaus, Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) · TECDOC Series No. 2086: Recovery of Uranium from Phosphate Ores · Vienna, April 2025