Phosphorus element Critical Material
Phosphorus (P), the chemical element. Canada's named phosphorus material designation is mapped to this element; it is not a designation of every phosphate salt or mineral. The experiment concerns phosphate mobilization from a mixed struvite/dittmarite feed, not elemental phosphorus production.
Identifiers & Classification
| System | Identifier | Label |
|---|---|---|
| CHEBI |
CHEBI:28659
|
phosphorus atom |
Criticality Designations
| Jurisdiction | List Name | Edition / Document | Classification | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Natural Resources Canada Critical Minerals List | 2024 update, announced 10 June 2024 | critical |
canada_2024
|
Microbial & Biochemical Mechanisms (1)
Phosphate mobilization during fungal growth on struvite-bearing material
bioleaching
Microbial
Associated Organisms:
Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 (NCBITaxon:380704)
Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 growth was associated with acidification, oxalic acid production and increased soluble inorganic phosphate in struvite-containing medium. Acid-mediated dissolution is supported; oxalate's exclusive causal contribution is not isolated by this experiment.
Experimental Context & Analytical Limits:
Laboratory natural struvite fragments from a Veolia Water Outsourcing site in Exeter, UK, were pulverized and oven-treated at 105 degrees C for 48 h. XRD identified struvite plus dittmarite in the feed. Flasks contained 1% w/v feed in 200 mL modified Czapek-Dox medium, inoculated with 1 x 10^6 spores/mL and incubated for 14 days at 25 degrees C, 125 rpm, in darkness. Medium pH was adjusted to 5.5 before autoclaving; this is not a measured post-feed starting pH. The medium already contained 1 g/L Na2HPO4, so struvite was not the sole phosphorus source. These are laboratory mobilization results without an isolated phosphorus product yield or demonstrated industrial deployment.
Laboratory natural struvite fragments from a Veolia Water Outsourcing site in Exeter, UK, were pulverized and oven-treated at 105 degrees C for 48 h. XRD identified struvite plus dittmarite in the feed. Flasks contained 1% w/v feed in 200 mL modified Czapek-Dox medium, inoculated with 1 x 10^6 spores/mL and incubated for 14 days at 25 degrees C, 125 rpm, in darkness. Medium pH was adjusted to 5.5 before autoclaving; this is not a measured post-feed starting pH. The medium already contained 1 g/L Na2HPO4, so struvite was not the sole phosphorus source. These are laboratory mobilization results without an isolated phosphorus product yield or demonstrated industrial deployment.
Curated Evidence Points:
Support
Source:
kang_2022
Results and Figure 2B report final soluble Pi of 51.37 +/- 0.59 mM in the struvite-containing fungal culture; Figure 2 specifies means and standard errors from at least three replicates. Final pH was 2.46 +/- 0.11 and oxalic acid 26.49 +/- 3.43 mM. These are solution endpoints, not a mineral-specific mass balance or a recovery yield.
Partial
Source:
kang_2022
Methods name uninoculated flasks, but Figure 2 compares inoculated cultures with versus without struvite. It does not provide an acid-matched abiotic contrast. Background medium phosphate and the mixed mineral feed limit attribution of every measured Pi molecule to struvite. The inspected full text does not specify the Pi assay procedure, although it describes oxalic acid HPLC. The source's complete-solubilization wording is not adopted as a quantified mineral dissolution fraction.
Sources & References
-
chebi_phosphorus: ChEBI:28659 - phosphorus atom; formula P, net charge zero
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/chebi/CHEBI:28659 (accessed 2026-10-11) -
canada_2024: Natural Resources Canada. Critical minerals: an opportunity for Canada. Canada's 34-entry Critical Minerals List, 2024 update, Phosphorus row.
https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/critical-minerals-an-opportunity-for-canada.html (accessed 2026-10-11) -
canada_2024_announcement: Natural Resources Canada (10 June 2024). Government of Canada Releases Updated Critical Minerals List; edition and phosphorus addition.
https://www.canada.ca/en/natural-resources-canada/news/2024/06/government-of-canada-releases-updated-critical-minerals-list.html (accessed 2026-10-11) -
kang_2022: Kang, Csetenyi, Gao and Gadd (2022). Solubilization of struvite and biorecovery of cerium by Aspergillus niger. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 106:821-833. DOI 10.1007/s00253-021-11721-0; PMC8763747; Methods, Figures 1-2, Table 1 and Discussion.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11721-0 (accessed 2026-10-11) -
ncbi_atcc1015: NCBI Taxonomy 380704 - Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015, no-rank strain entry
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=380704&mode=Info (accessed 2026-10-11)
Curation History
| Timestamp | Curator | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
2026-10-11T04:55:52Z |
Codex (GPT-6; Codex) | CREATE | Created verified element identity and dated criticality with bounded Kang 2022 laboratory evidence, preserving feed, control and assay limits. |
Record source: data/records/phosphorus.yaml