Sirius Minerals and its polyhalite Woodsmith project in North Yorkshire and Teesside have been sold for an estimated £400m to South African mining giant Anglo American.
SHAREHOLDERS
Sirius needed £400m to fund the first phase development but received no government support and faced uncertainties over the UK leaving the European Union.
Anglo American expressed an interest in January this year and Sirius shareholders approved the sale in early March.
The deal came into effect on the 31 March when Sirius chief executive Russell Scrimshaw stepped down.
RESOURCES
The project, now known as Anglo American Woodsmith, has the “largest, highest grade resource of polyhalite [trademark of POLY4 – a type of potash], anywhere in the world”.
The mineral seam lies 1,500 metres below surface, over approximately 307 km2 (796 km2) with around 104 sq miles onshore (271 km2) and 218.48 sq miles offshore (535 km2).
Resources of 2.66 billion tons will be extracted via two mine shafts and transported to Teesside on a conveyor belt in an underground tunnel.
It will then be granulated at a materials handling facility, with the majority being exported to overseas markets.
The company said that the polyhalite contained micro nutrients proven to increase high value and broad acre crops.
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