Sirius reveals potash mine location
SIRIUS Minerals today begins the critical phase of its project to open a potash mine in North Yorkshire as it reveals its proposed location in the North York Moors National Park.
The company hopes the nature of the site, 2km south of the village of Sneaton, and designs for the mine which will see it largely concealed underground will convince planners to give it the go-ahead.
Sirius believes the mine could become one of the most significant of its kind in the world and employ 1,000 people directly.
Chief executive Chris Fraser told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We have been working on this for over two years now and this is an absolutely pivotal moment in the life of the project, when you come out in public on where the mine will be and what it will look like which are the two biggest questions we have always faced.
“The images that we are putting out are a demonstration of the commitment we made in January 2011 that we would deliver a very low impact, very modern state of the art operation and we are pretty proud of the designs we have managed to put together.
“We know we have got a huge level of support but as always there will be naysayers. With these images people will be able to see that those statements from the minority of people who are negative just don’t have substance when you compare them to reality.”
In July, Sirius Minerals announced it was mothballing its other projects to focus its £54m in cash on the development of the York Potash scheme.
Mr Fraser said Sirius had enough funding to see the project through the planning process but further fundraising would be needed before construction could begin.
The York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership has already offered its support.
Board member Rob Miller said: “The new potash mine proposed to be built on the North Yorkshire coast will provide much needed jobs and growth to this area.
“The LEP are pleased to support the development of the proposed new potash mine and we will be working closely with York Potash to ensure that the area maximises the benefits of this new mine in terms of skills, jobs and supply chain opportunities.”
If given the go ahead, the mine access and infrastructure would cover 4.5 hectares of a 100 hectare site currently used for farming and forestry.
The minehead would largely be submerged underground and covered with farm-style buildings. Extracted material would be carried via a 44km pipeline to a still-to-be-chosen site in Teesside for processing.
A planning application will be lodged before Christmas and it could take up to four months for the national park authority to reach a decision. Construction would take a further two to three years.
Later this month Sirius will begin a series of public exhibitions in the area to show the mine designs and give local people the chance to ask questions.
[VIDEO: 587]STANDING in farmland with stunning views out to the Yorkshire coast, it is hard to believe that in a matter of months it could be the construction site for a new potash mine.
And that is why the announcement of the location today and the debate that follows as Sirius Minerals seeks planning permission is such a key moment for the project.
Accessing the valuable polyhalite buried underground means building a new mine in a national park which has always appeared on the face of it an unlikely prospect.
But the site on the B1416, close to the junction known locally as Red Gate, has much about it to reassure the planners who will decide the project’s fate.
Its current use as farmland means environmentally valuable moorland will not be disturbed. The A171 runs close by giving access to both construction teams and, later, mineworkers.
Existing woodland screens the site from view in most directions and just seven properties are within a 1km radius.
Mineworkers will be bussed in from park-and-ride schemes, reducing traffic and the need for car parking, while buildings on the site will be designed to minimise light pollution.
The mine has received significant support locally because of the prospects it offers in terms of both direct employment and wider economic benefits for the area.
Sirius is hoping that promise of an economic lift and its work to minimise the impact on the environment will be enough to tip the balance in its favour.
