Economic Impact of Value Addition to Sri Lankan Rock Phosphate Deposit: A Non-renewable Phosphate Source

Abstract

Worldwide rock phosphate deposits are a kind of nonrenewable natural resources, which do not regenerate themselves over humanly meaningful time spans. Obtaining the right compensation as a resource-related wealth is a timely requirement. Current study discusses both the economic importance and impact of value addition to Sri Lankan Eppawala rock phosphate via innovative commercial products. Rock phosphate has been value-added into Hydroxyapatite bio ceramic chemically, their properties were analyzed under several characterization techniques, their composites were processed to obtain improved properties via incorporating with liquid monomers and costs analysis were performed to obtain economic validity. Results were compared and contrasted with raw materials, human hard tissues, and commercial products. Results show that novel products can be applied directly as bio ceramic materials due to their close chemical, structural similarity to human hard tissues than commercial products. Considering better performance, eco-friendliness, and novel composites can be introduced to global market with high value.