The Aurora mine is the largest integrated phosphate mining and chemical plant in the world. The mine is located in Richland Township, in Aurora in Beaufort County, North Carolina. The mine, has been owned by PotashCorp since 1995, has an annual production capacity of over six million tonnes of phosphate ore. In 2008 the mine produced 6.6 million tonnes of phosphate ore from which 1.3 million tonnes of phosphoric acid was produced.