Leading mining companies have taken up the chal- lenge and are pushing beyond minimum legal requirements through voluntary initiatives, to ensure their continued “license-to-operate” from the com- munity as well as increasing their competitive advantage through continuous, voluntary improve- ments in environmental performance. As with all mining activities, the extraction and bene- ficiation of phosphate rock and potash to produce mineral fertilizer raw material has the potential to cause environmental impacts. These impacts can take the form of changes to the landscape, water contami- nation, excessive water consumption and air pollution. The landscape may be disturbed through the removal of topsoil and vegetation, excavation and deposition of overburden, disposal of processing wastes and underground mining induced surface.
