Water Resources

The work of mining and processing potashand phosphate minerals is energy- andwater-intensive. At Mosaic, we strive tomaximize efficiencies and minimize our useof natural resources, and have madesignificant progress in reducing thecompany’s environmental footprint.

Continuous improvement is integral to ourbusiness. Through innovative processes,significant investments, strategicengagement and partnerships, and anongoing focus on efficiency andconservation, we are working to minimizeour impact each year while providing farmerswith vital crop nutrients that help grow food.

Using Our Water ResourcesEfficientlyResponsible use of water is a fundamentalcomponent of sustainability at Mosaic. Our watermanagement programs include companywidetargets and facility-level initiatives to reduce ourwater footprint.

TARGETS & PERFORMANCE FOOD ENVIRONMENT PEOPLE COMPANY

The primary sources of water for our Florida,New Mexico and Saskatchewan operationsare surface water, rainwater andgroundwater. Secondary sources of waterinclude water supplied by local authoritiesand partially treated industrial and domesticreclaimed water, also supplied by localauthorities. Reclaimed water is formerwastewater that is treated to remove solidsand impurities, and recycled. Surface waterwithdrawals include once-through coolingwater used by facilities in Louisiana. We arealso collaborating with local governmentsand industries to use alternative watersources to reduce impacts on local watersupplies.

“At Mosaic, we believe the long-termsuccess of our business depends on thehealth of our operating communities—andthe natural resources on which we all rely.Water is a precious resource that requiresgreat care at our facilities and elsewhere,”said Jim Prokopanko, President and ChiefExecutive Officer of The Mosaic Company.“We use water responsibly, and we’ve set atarget to achieve even greater improvementon companywide freshwater water use.”

Announced in this year’s report are our newSustainability Targets. The intent of ourwater target is to drive water efficiencyimprovements across our business and toincrease the use of alternative watersources.

Our Commitment to Water

We take an “every drop counts” approach to watermanagement, and we aim to recycle or reuse waterat every opportunity. We set measurable goals andhold ourselves accountable for the reduction ofwater use.

Facts on Our Water Footprint

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Our Water Reduction Actions:

Continuecommitment to waterstewardship companywide

Establishsite-specific goals to drivewater conservation at thefacility level

Increaseuse of reclaimed water*

Evaluateadditional partnerships withindustry and government to usealternative water sources

Reducing Water Use in OurPhosphate ProductionHow Water is Used in Phosphate Production

Mosaic withdraws approximately 300 million m of waterannually across our operations

Mosaic’s average freshwater use per tonne of product was4.59 m in 2014

Mosaic reused or recycled approximately 90% of waterused at Florida phosphate and Saskatchewan potashoperations in 2014

Mosaic partnered with 11 different governmentorganizations and companies to use more than 3.5 millionm of water from alternative sources in 2014

Mosaic has reduced withdrawals of groundwater, one ofthe most sensitive water resources, by 15% since 2005 inphosphates operations

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Phosphate rock is typically found 15-50 feet beneath theground in a mixture of phosphate pebbles, sand and clayknown as phosphate “matrix.” The sandy layer above thematrix, called the overburden, is removed using electricallyoperated draglines. Equipped with large buckets, thesedraglines remove the overburden, placing it in the previouslymined voids, and excavate the matrix, depositing it into ashallow containment area. There, high-pressure water gunsturn the material into a watery mixture called slurry, which issent through pipelines to a processing facility, referred to as abeneficiation plant, where phosphate rock is physicallyseparated from the sand and clay in the matrix.

At the plant, the slurry is moved through a series of washingstations and vibrating screens that physically separate clay,sand and pebble-sized particles. The separated phosphatepebbles are moved through dewatering tanks and onto aninventory pile via conveyor belt. The clay particles are thenpumped through pipelines into storage ponds (clay settlingareas) where these particles sink to the bottom.

The smallest particles of sand and phosphate are furtherseparated at a flotation plant. The sand is returned bypipeline to the mine area for use in land reclamation, whilethe phosphate concentrate is sent to dewatering tanks andthen to the inventory pile. The phosphate minerals are thentransported to a separate fertilizer manufacturing plant tomake our finished products.

Water management during the mining andproduction processes is an extremelyimportant part of our operations. We arecontinually updating our long-term waterstrategy for our Florida operations, with thegoal of conserving water resources andreducing the amount of water we impoundfor operational use. Today, Mosaic’s CentralFlorida facilities operate on more than 90%reused or recycled water. Recycled water isused at both our mines and fertilizer plantsto reduce groundwater withdrawals.

Our Plant City facility uses approximately 2million gallons per day of reclaimed water,which is former wastewater that is treated toremove solids and impurities, from localutilities. This process cuts the facility’sgroundwater extractions in half compared tohistorical levels.

Continuous Water Improvement at Our Florida Facilities

Our Bartow facility has been engaged incontinuous improvement strategies toreduce water use since 2011. Each year theplant takes part in initiatives to reducefreshwater use, reuse process water, andreduce process water inventory through theuse of reverse osmosis (RO) andevaporation. Employees played an importantrole in suggesting and implementing watersavings at the facility, including installingpump seals, eliminating freshwater usagefrom the ball mill system, stoppingcondensation/steam leaks, extendingdemineralization regeneration cycles,installing low-flow toilets, and keeping waterlevels in balance, particularly during heavyrain and hurricane seasons. The changesimproved operational and environmentalsustainability. One initiative, a change to theRO treatment plant, recycled an additional300 gallons of water per minute for use atthe facility—further reducing the facility’sreliance on groundwater sources.

Reducing Water Use in Our PotashProductionHow Water is Used in Solution Potash Mining

Saskatchewan potash is extracted from deep undergrounddeposits using either conventional (mining machines) orsolution mining techniques (brine is used to remove themineral solutions). To mine at depths greater than 1,000meters (1 km), it is safer to solution mine.

Mosaic operates the world’s largest potash solution mine inBelle Plaine, Saskatchewan. About 2.2 million tonnes ofpotash finished product are produced at Belle Plaine eachyear.

Potash solution mining is a resource-intensive process.During solution mining, warm water is pumped down wellsinto the potash formation. Potassium and sodium salts aredissolved deep underground and the resulting solution ispumped to the plant on the surface, where the potash isremoved. Large amounts of water are removed from thesolution using evaporators. The evaporated water isrecovered and reused. The solution is heated, and water isevaporated in order to concentrate the potash in the solutionand crystallize out salt (NaCL). The potash rich solution isthen cooled through the crystallization process where thepotash mineral sylvite (KCL) is produced.

Another method of recovering the potash is through the useof cooling ponds. The cooling pond technology developed atBelle Plaine was a breakthrough innovation for the site thatreduces the energy required to manufacture potash products.The warm salt (NaCL and KCL) rich solution flows intooutdoor ponds. As the solution cools, potash crystallizes andprecipitates to the bottom of the pond floor. Dredges areused to collect the crystals and pump them in a slurry to theplant, where it is separated out.

Saving Water Through an InnovativeAgreement in SaskatchewanThrough an agreement with a third-party industrial partner in

Saskatchewan, Mosaic’s Belle Plaine facility is able to usealternative source water. This process avoided the use ofmore than 200,000 m3 of freshwater use in 2014. The BellePlaine facility sends water to be used in a cooling process ata nearby plant. The heated water returns to Mosaic’s facilityto be used as part of the potash production process. Thissynergy allows Mosaic to reduce the amount of energy thatwould have otherwise been used heating the water, whileallowing the industrial partner to avoid cooling costs.

Mosaic Belle Plaine WaterAgreement:

Avoidsapproximately 200,000 m offreshwater use throughwastewater use each year

Savesmore than $1 million in energysavings each year

Generatedmore than half a milliongigajoules in energy savings in2014

Avoidedapproximately 30,000 metrictonnes CO e emissions in 2014

Mining, producing and delivering millions oftonnes of crop nutrients each year tocustomers around the globe is complex. Itrequires teams of dedicated professionalsworking to make responsible decisions eachday and at every step in the production andsupply chains. At Mosaic, we are continuallydeveloping innovative ways of doing ourcritical work. These innovations increase ourefficiency while demonstrating our respect

Innovation Helps Us KeepImproving

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for the Earth’s resources.

*Reclaimed water is former wastewater that is treated toremove solids and impurities, and recycled. Reclaimedwater accounts for 2% of Mosaic’s Florida waterwithdrawals, including groundwater, municipal waterand wastewater.

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