Mosaic presents annual mine reports; county and company agree to extend deadline to update financial-assurance materials

Wauchula, Fla. — Representatives of Mosaic Fertilizer LLC and county staff convened April 17 for the annual monitoring-and-review presentation covering Mosaic’s Hardee County mines. Staff recommended approval of the annual reports with conditions, and Mosaic and county counsel agreed to additional time to finalize supplemental financial-assurance documents that must conform to Hardee County’s mining ordinance.

The county’s mining coordinator, Deb Butler, presented staff’s review and draft resolutions recommending approval of annual reports for multiple Mosaic operations, including Fort Greene (Southern Reserves), Payne Creek (Fort Greene extension), Fort Meade (including North Hardee extension), North Pasture, South Fort Meade (including Eastern Reserves and Eastern Extension), Ona, and South Pasture. Mosaic’s team then summarized reclamation work, production, and the company’s financial position.

Why it matters: Hardee County’s mining code requires permittees to show financial ability to cover reclamation liabilities. County staff’s draft conditions asked Mosaic to deliver supplemental financial-assurance materials by May 31, 2025; Mosaic asked for more time to provide documentation that aligns the county ordinance’s requirement for the permittee with how consolidated financials are reported at the parent-company level. County attorneys and Mosaic representatives agreed to a later target date to allow internal and legal review; staff proposed a July 8 date to allow time for county review ahead of an August agenda.

What Mosaic reported and staff recommendations

- Reclamation progress: Staff and Mosaic said initial reclamation is complete on thousands of acres across the county; staff noted reclamation approvals previously granted and a new reclamation application covering approximately 2,195 acres across five mines that is on the county’s docket for approval. Mosaic described completed contouring, dewatering and revegetation activities and several specific reclamation projects completed in 2024. - Production and taxes: Mosaic reported production and tax payments for 2024. Company financial staff presented a consolidated audited schedule of accrued land-reclamation costs of about $289 million as of Dec. 31, 2024 (company GAAP estimate); staff said Hardee County accounts for approximately 60% of the company’s reclamation liability by the company’s allocation method. For 2024, Mosaic reported roughly $3.2 million in severance taxes and about $13.2 million in ad valorem taxes allocated to Hardee County (figures presented by company accounting staff during the meeting). - Staff conditions: For each annual report, staff recommended approval with distributed conditions including: submission of annual reports in county-specified copy counts for public distribution, and supplemental financial assurances specific to Mosaic Fertilizer LLC to meet the Hardee County Mining Ordinance (initially requested by staff with a May 31, 2025 deadline in the draft conditions).

Financial-assurance issue and schedule

Hardee County’s mining ordinance requires demonstration of financial capability by the permittee entity. Mosaic noted that its consolidated, audited financial statements are prepared at the public parent-company level; Mosaic Fertilizer LLC is a subsidiary that holds the permits. That difference required the company to assess internal options to demonstrate the county-required financial assurance for the permittee. Mosaic asked for additional time to (1) complete internal deliberations on the methodology; and (2) coordinate a proposal with county legal staff. County counsel suggested July 8 as a realistic near-term date for Mosaic to submit supplemental assurance materials so staff would have time to review ahead of an August meeting. Mosaic said it could work with that revised schedule; county staff said July 8 would allow time for internal review and placement on an upcoming agenda for final action.

Other technical points raised at the hearing included:

- Sand and clay balances across multiple mine permits and the company’s regional clay plan; company and staff reported months of modeling updates and identified that a combined application for Ona and South Pasture mines will be resubmitted by Mosaic by June 30, 2025. - Reclamation specifics: Mosaic presented work completed on several reclamation units including PB3, CB1 and BCO3 (alternative reclamation schedules completed during 2024) and ongoing dewatering/contouring of sand-clay mix areas (E4, E5, W4, among others). - Permitting: Mosaic said certain modification and hydrological modeling were required before resubmitting consolidated MMRP/major special-exception applications.

Speakers (selected)

- Deb Butler — Hardee County mining coordinator, presented staff’s annual-review memos and draft resolutions recommending conditional approval for each annual report. - Russell Schweiss — Senior director of land and resource management, Mosaic; led Mosaic’s presentation and introduced technical staff. - Marilyn Catala — Mosaic senior financial analyst; presented consolidated financial figures, the audited accrued land-reclamation schedule and tax contributions. - Gary Blitch — Mosaic senior manager of reclamation; and reclamation supervisors Keith Hancock and Zach Hutchins — presented reclamation progress and project-specific activities.

Board and next steps

County staff’s draft resolutions recommend approval of Mosaic’s annual reports for each mine, with standard distribution and public-notice conditions and a requirement that Mosaic provide supplemental financial-assurance documentation specific to Mosaic Fertilizer LLC. Mosaic requested additional time to reconcile parent-company financial reporting with the permittee-focused requirement; county legal staff proposed July 8 as a target date to submit supplemental financial-assurance materials so county staff would have time to review prior to an August agenda. Mosaic agreed to the schedule and said it would return with a proposal on how it will meet the county ordinance’s financial-assurance requirements.

Provenance

- topicintro: block_id="block-4419.3" local_start=0 local_end=88 evidence_excerpt":"Good morning. Good morning, Chairman Melendi and commissioners. Deb Butler, the mining coordinator." tc_start="00:44:..." - topfinish: block_id="block-11219.35" local_start=0 local_end=140 evidence_excerpt":"So if the board is considering that and staff initially recommended May 31, I know they have asked for a July or August date... I would ask... July 8..." tc_end="01:52:59"