Simplot phosphate mine expansion approved in eastern Idaho

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S land managers have approved a final plan for expanding an open-pit phosphate mine in southeastern Idaho proposed by Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Company.

The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday approved the project that’s expected to keep about 600 workers employed for another three years at Simplot’s existing Smokey Canyon Mine and Don Plant processing facility in Pocatello.

Phosphate mining is a major business in the region that has been going on for decades. Giant open pits are created to get phosphate ore that is turned into fertilizer needed by farmers to grow food. But the area also has more than a dozen federal Superfund sites needing cleanup from past phosphate mining from multiple companies.

The East Smokey Panel Mine is the second phosphate mine U.S. officials have approved for Simplot this year. In April, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management approved the nearby Dairy Syncline Mine Project.

Simplot has said that modern phosphate mining and reclamation techniques will prevent the kind of problems that led to the Superfund sites.

Simplot is a privately-held multinational agricultural company engaged in a wide array of activities that include seed production, farming, ranching, frozen-food processing and gene editing.