Articles | Volume 5, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-491-2014
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-5-491-2014
Review
 | 
19 Dec 2014
Review |  | 19 Dec 2014

Recent revisions of phosphate rock reserves and resources: a critique

J. D. Edixhoven, J. Gupta, and H. H. G. Savenije

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Short summary
Phosphate rock is a finite resource required for fertilizer production. Following a debate over the PR depletion timeline, global PR reserves were recently increased 4-fold based mainly on a restatement of Moroccan reserves. We review whether this restatement is methodologically compatible with resource terminology used in major resource classifications, whether resource classification nomenclature is sufficiently understood in the literature, and whether the recent restatements are reliable.
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