No public inquiry for York Potash project
SIRIUS MINERALS’ £1.7bn scheme to build a potash mine under the North York Moors will not go before a public inquiry after the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government decided not to call-in the project planning applications.
Two weeks ago the North York Moors National Park Authority followed Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in approving planning applications, and this latest decision enables the project to move forward.
Chris Fraser, managing director and chief executive of Sirius, said: “This is yet another positive step forward on our pathway to developing the project and increasing shareholder value.”
Shareholders have endured a bumpy ride in recent months, with shares falling below 7p in February. The price more than trebled, to 25p in May, before dropping to 14p before the crucial North York Moors planning meeting at the end of June. The positive news added 10p to the price, which has since slipped back to below 18p. Sirius’s market capitalisation is currently £430m.
The company has recently appointed two investment banks to launch a £2bn fundraising bid, which will take place in two phases, with the first £650m to be raised through a mixture of development equity and structured debt.
Sirius Minerals believes the mine will create 1,040 direct jobs, with a further 1,010 supported in the construction and development phase, and £1.2bn delivered in exports.
The plans, which have been under discussion for five years, are for a shaft to be dug a mile into the moors, near Whitby, to reach polyhalite. A 23-mile tunnel containing underground conveyor belts would then link the mining site to a processing plant in Teesside.
There is estimated to be 3bn tonnes of the mineral, which is used as a fertiliser, and which could be mined for 100 years.
