York Potash Ltd

York Potash Ltd
Industry
Products
Parent Sirius Minerals Plc (AIM:SXX)
Website www.siriusminerals.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
Project plan[2]
Artist's impression of the mine site[3]

York Potash Ltd is a subsidiary of Sirius Minerals Plc whose primary focus is the development of the company's North Yorkshire polyhalite project.[1] The project intends to mine the world’s largest deposit of polyhalite – a naturally occurring mineral.[4]

The mine site is located outside the village of Sneatonthorpe, between Whitby and Scarborough in North Yorkshire.[5] The project plans to construct two 1,500 m (4,900 ft) shafts to reach the mineral seam which includes a mineable area of around 25,200 hectares (62,000 acres).[6]

To minimise the amount of visible infrastructure within the North York Moors National Park, a protected area, the polyhalite will then be transported 37 kilometres (23.0 miles) in an underground tunnel to the company’s processing plant at Teesside.[5] After granulation and drying, the finished product – marketed by Sirius Minerals as POLY4 – will be exported from the nearby harbour facilities.[7]

Planning

Sirius withdrew its initial planning application in 2013 to re-examine key elements, particularly the project’s environmental impact.[8] Plans were resubmitted in 2014 with notable changes including an underground system of conveyor belts to transport the dry mineral, instead of a slurry pipeline, and other mitigation efforts.[9]

The decision from members of the North York Moors National Park Authority to resolve to grant planning permission for the mine and mineral transport system, was made at a public meeting on 30 June 2015.[6] When complete, the Project would be among the largest mining projects ever built in the United Kingdom.[2]

Sirius intend to have the mine and associated tunnel operational by 2021,[10] with preferred bidder status on construction being announced in June 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sirius Minerals Plc: Business Profile". Financial Times. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Sirius's Yorkshire mine plan gets boost as it secures Huaken deal". Financial Times. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "The questions you need answered on North Yorkshire's potash mine". York Press. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "Chinese sign up for 500,000 tonnes of fertiliser from North Yorks potash mine". The Daily Telegraph. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 "The £1billion mine that won't scar the beauty of the moors thanks to a 22-mile tunnel long enough to go under the Channel". The Daily Mail. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 "North York Moors potash mine gets £1.7bn go-ahead". The Guardian. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  7. ↑ "York Potash project's Wilton material handling facility approved by Redcar & Cleveland Council". Teesside Gazette. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "North York Moors potash mine plans put back a year". BBC News. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "York Potash: £167m underground conveyor belt will mean more Teesside-based jobs". Teesside Gazette. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "North York Moors potash mine ready by 2021, company says". BBC News. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.