Mosaic Responds to District Court's Preliminary Injunction

The Mosaic Company MOS today announced it will vigorously pursue all options, including appeals, to defend itself against an injunction entered Friday afternoon by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. This injunction prevents all mining activities on the Hardee County extension of Mosaic's South Fort Meade phosphate mine in Central Florida. As previously disclosed, the Company is defending a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club that seeks to prevent Mosaic from extending its mining permit into Hardee County. "We are surprised and disappointed that the District Court granted another preliminary injunction after being expressly instructed by the appellate court in April to rule on the merits of this case," said Richard Mack, Mosaic's Executive Vice President and General Counsel. "The inclusion of uplands mining in the injunction is particularly unwarranted, because such mining does not require a federal permit. In fact, the Judge has indicated on the record, including in his July 2010 injunction, that uplands mining is permissible. We do not believe the injunction is supported by the overwhelming facts or the law, and we will vigorously pursue all options to obtain relief, as we successfully did with the previous injunction. "The Court's ruling is inconsistent with the overall regulatory environment in Florida and may bring significant hardship to our employees and local communities. Mosaic continues to stand by the validity of the Army Corps' permit, which allows mining activities in wetlands on the Hardee County extension of South Fort Meade, subject to the permit's stringent terms and conditions, including extensive post-mining reclamation. This permit received extensive scrutiny and contains more environmental protections than any Florida phosphate mining permit ever issued."