Potash mine plans submitted
PROPOSALS by Sirius Minerals for a new potash mine have been submitted to the North York Moors National Park Authority.
The submission of the plans for the scheme, which would see a minehead built around 2km south of the village of Sneaton with the mined ore transported by underground pipeline to a processing site on Teesside, is a major move forward for the development.
York Potash, the Sirius Minerals company behind the project, is confident that the Park Authority will validate the application nest week with a final decision expected by May.
Sirius claims the new mine, which will see potash extracted for use as farming fertilisers, will generate more than 1,000 jobs when at full production and thousands of indirect jobs in the support and supply industries, as well up to 1,800 jobs during construction.
The company said that a consultation it undertook revealed that 91% of people were supportive of the proposals, with 8% undecided and less than 1% against the new mine.
Chris Fraser, managing director and chief executive of parent company Sirius Minerals, said: “The York Potash Project will deliver an unrivalled level of investment for North Yorkshire, creating significant new jobs and improving local skills for generations to come.
“As a nationally significant project with many local benefits and we have been extremely grateful for the wide ranging support received during our extensive pre-application public consultations.
“A huge amount of technical work and studies have gone into the application and we believe that we have both put forward a robust planning case and set a new benchmark for sensitive design in the mining industry.”
