Major potash mine planned for Yorkshire

London - Sirius Minerals Plc has is planning to establish a major potash mine within the boundaries of North York Moors National Park. The project would involve an investment of around £4 billion and create 1000 jobs in the Yorkshire region.

The London-based mining group, on 3 Sept, formally initiated planning application procedures. A pre-feasibility study, including construction-cost estimates, is expected to be completed in November, paving the way for a full planning application soon after.

According to the group, the mining operation will have minimal visual impact, in part because a decision to replace the original twin drift tunnel design with vertical shafts sunk from surface.

The design, said Sirius, will reduce volumes of excavated material during mine construction as well as the surface area footprint. It has also reduced the project’s technical risk being a more conventional proven system, the company added.

The aim is to develop a state-of-the-art potash mine at York Potash in an “unobtrusive manner,” said Chris Fraser, managing director and CEO of Sirius.

“The proposed location and initial designs show what would be a relatively simple concept to construct, but with one of the world’s most innovative approaches to low impact mine design,” commented Fraser. “This is a nationally significant project that will bring extensive benefits to North Yorkshire and the wider British economy.”

According to Sirius, the York Potash project asset is the largest and highest grade polyhalite resource in the world. The Yorkshire project will principally targets polyhalite as a source of sulphate of potash, magnesium sulphate and calcium sulphate (gypsum) – products that are widely used in fertilisers for food crop production.

The mine access and related surface infrastructure will be located about 4km south from the outskirts of Whitby on the B1416 within the boundary of the North York Moors National Park. The site is currently used for farming and commercial forestry, and has extensive woodland screening and access to the main A171 road.

The constructed mine would, therefore, be concealed within the landscape. Shaft headframes and pipeline loading areas would be below ground and covered by agricultural style buildings to integrate with the surrounding rural environment. A preferred route for the ore transport pipeline has been identified and surveyed, and talks are now on-going with landowners along that route, said Sirius.

Once constructed the entire site infrastructure will occupy less than 4.5 hectares of the 100 hectare site controlled by York Potash, which Sirius acquired in January 2011 for around £25.3 million.

The selection of the proposed location of the mine’s surface facilities coincides with the submission of a screening and scoping request to the North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA).

Sirius said it will now conduct a detailed six-week local consultation on its plans in conjunction with the preparation of a full planning application. The company expects to receive a decision from the NYMNPA within 16 weeks of submitting the planing application.