One of Teesside’s biggest industrial projects - promising more than 2,500 jobs - took a major step forward today.
Every year, the £2.3 billion Sirius Minerals mine south of Whitby will bring up 10 million tonnes of polyhalite to be used in fertilisers and then take it through a 23-mile tunnel to a handling facility and port at Teesside.
The project will create over 1,000 direct jobs and many more indirectly. At full production it could generate over £2billion of exports.
Today Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy officially launched ‘Woodsmith Mine’, named after two of the original geologists that worked with Sirius, Mr Peter Woods and Dr Frederick Smith.
Mr Woods and Dr Smith both have extensive knowledge of the local geology and were the first people in the area to work with Chris Fraser, the project founder.
In 2010 Chris, now CEO and Managing Director of Sirius Minerals, was looking for minerals assets and opportunities, having left his position at Citigroup as Managing Director of Metals and Mining Investment Banking for Australia. With a particular interest in potash, Chris became aware of the deposit in the UK, investigated further and met Peter and Rick.
Chris said: “Without their commitment there wouldn’t be a project and their extensive knowledge of, and passion for, the geology has been invaluable.
“They share the combination of being dedicated professionals and genuinely decent people, so I could not think of a more fitting way to recognise their immense contribution and all the benefits it has and will continue to deliver.”
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“The name also implies an element of rural craftsmanship that befits both the mine’s location and our teams’ innovation and painstaking diligence towards this important project”, he added.
Mr Percy added: “Today marks an important step for Sirius Minerals’ North Yorkshire mining project, which is a real vote of confidence in the economic potential of the Northern Powerhouse. The Woodsmith Mine has the potential to create over a thousand jobs and generate billions of pounds of exports for the region, and so I’m excited to see it progress.”
Backers for the project have included Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, who has pumped in £250million.
The site naming today marks another important step in the project’s progress. Detailed site preparation works are due to start in April, with first production from the mine planned by the end of 2021 and production capacity of 10 million tonnes a year by mid-2024. But the company has already started highways enabling works following it successfully raising financing for the start of construction in November last year.
A new right-hand turn filter lane from the A171 onto the B1416 is currently being constructed, together with and a new turning lane on the B1416 into the site of the Woodsmith Mine.
Jobs at the site are already being advertised and can be found on Sirius’ website.