 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| LSE: SXX | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 2003 |
Key people | Russell Scrimshaw (chairman) Chris Fraser (CEO) |
| Products |
|
| Revenue | £nil (2018) [1] |
| £(24.2) million (2018) [1] | |
| £(12.5) million (2018) [1] | |
| Website | siriusminerals.com |
Sirius Minerals plc was a fertilizer development company based in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Anglo American in March 2020.
Founded in 2003, the company initially focused on exploring the potential for potash mining in North Dakota. [4] However, after abandoning attempts at overseas exploration in February 2012 [4] and following approval from the North York Moors National Park Authority in June 2015, [5] the then AIM-listed company stated that it would seek financing in order to begin construction at the Woodsmith Mine in North Yorkshire. [6] It was admitted to the main market in April 2017. [7]
In September 2019 the Woodsmith Mine project was in doubt when the company shelved a £400 million junk bond sale, citing a lack of government support and Brexit uncertainty. [8] In November 2019 the company announced that it was in talks with potential investors to raise $600 million needed to fund the first phase of the development. [9]
In January 2020 Anglo American confirmed it was considering making a bid to buy Sirius, [10] making a 5.5p per share offer to buy the project for £400m. In salvaging the financially troubled project, Anglo American envisages spending around £230m to keep construction going through to at least 2022. [11] Sirius advised shareholders that if the offer was rejected then the company could face administration within weeks. [12] [13] Subject to approval by at least 75% of Sirius shareholders, the deal was expected to become effective by 31 March 2020. [14] The sale was approved by shareholders on 4 March 2020. [15]
The Company’s stated focus was the development of its North Yorkshire polyhalite project [16] which aimed to exploit the world’s largest deposit of polyhalite, a type of potash. [17] The company planned to create a mine three miles south of Whitby [18] and an underground conveyor system to transport the mineral from the mine site to a materials handling facility at Teesside, 36 km (22 mi) away. [2] The area of interest is located on the Yorkshire coast, mostly within the North York Moors National Park. The mineral seam lies 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) below the surface, [6] covering an area of approximately 796 km2 (307 sq mi), around 271 km2 (105 sq mi) onshore and 535 km2 (207 sq mi) offshore. [16]
North Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber and North East regions of England. It borders County Durham to the north, the North Sea to the east, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the south-east, South Yorkshire to the south, West Yorkshire to the south-west, and Cumbria and Lancashire to the west. Northallerton is the county town.
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk. It has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. The fishing port emerged during the Middle Ages, supporting important herring and whaling fleets, and was where Captain Cook learned seamanship and, coincidentally, where his first vessel to explore the southern ocean, HMS Endeavour, was built. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians, became fashionable during the 19th century.
The River Esk is a river in North Yorkshire, England that empties into the North Sea at Whitby after a course of around 28 miles (45 km) through the valley of Eskdale, named after the river itself. The river's name is derived from the Brythonic word "isca" meaning "water". The Esk is the only major river in Yorkshire that flows directly into the North Sea; all other watercourses defined as being major rivers by the Environment Agency, either flow to the North Sea via the River Tees or the Humber Estuary.
Anglo American plc is a British multinational mining company with headquarters in London, England. It is the world's largest producer of platinum, with around 40% of world output, as well as being a major producer of diamonds, copper, nickel, iron ore, polyhalite and steelmaking coal. The company has operations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.
The Esk Valley Line is a railway line located in the north of England, covering a total distance of approximately 35 miles (56 km), running from Middlesbrough to Whitby. The line follows the course of the River Esk for much of its eastern half.
Polyhalite is an evaporite mineral, a hydrated sulfate of potassium, calcium and magnesium with formula: K2Ca2Mg(SO4)4·2H2O. Polyhalite crystallizes in the triclinic system, although crystals are very rare. The normal habit is massive to fibrous. It is typically colorless, white to gray, although it may be brick red due to iron oxide inclusions. It has a Mohs hardness of 3.5 and a specific gravity of 2.8. It is used as a fertilizer.
Boulby is a hamlet in the Loftus parish, located within the North York Moors National Park. It is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is located off the A174, near Easington and 1-mile (1.6 km) west of Staithes.
The Scarborough & Whitby Railway was a railway line from Scarborough to Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. The line followed a difficult but scenic route along the North Yorkshire coast.
Boulby Mine is a 200-hectare (490-acre) site located just south-east of the village of Boulby, on the north-east coast of the North York Moors in Loftus, North Yorkshire England. It is run by Cleveland Potash Limited, which is now a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL).
Lockwood is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland with ceremonial association with North Yorkshire, England. The population of Lockwood ward in the Redcar and Cleveland Unitary authority taken at the 2011 census was 2,022.
The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (WRMU), a.k.a. the Whitby–Loftus Line, was a railway line in North Yorkshire, England, built between 1871 and 1886, running from Loftus on the Yorkshire coast to the Esk at Whitby, and connecting Middlesbrough to Whitby along the coast.
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of fossil fuels, metals, and industrial minerals due to its complex geology. In 2013, there were over 2,000 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom producing £34bn of minerals and employing 36,000 people.
The Yorkshire Coast runs from the Tees estuary to the Humber estuary, on the east coast of England. The cliffs at Boulby are the highest on the east coast of England, rising to 660 feet (200 m) above the sea level.
Woodsmith Mine is a deep potash and polyhalite mine located near to the hamlet of Sneatonthorpe, Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. The venture was started by York Potash Ltd, which became a subsidiary of Sirius Minerals plc whose primary focus is the development of the polyhalite project. The project will mine the world's largest known deposit of polyhalite – a naturally occurring mineral. Because the project would require mining to be undertaken in the North York Moors National Park, many objections were raised to the mine and the proposed conveyor that would be installed to transport the raw material offsite to a plant on Teesside 23 miles (37 km) away.
Hawsker is the name for the combined villages of High and Low Hawsker that straddle the A171 road 2.5 miles (4 km) southeast of Whitby, in North Yorkshire, England.
Redcar Bulk Terminal (RBT), also known as Redcar Ore Terminal, is a privately run dock at the mouth of the Tees Estuary in North Yorkshire, England. The port is used for the transhipment of coal and coke and for many years was the import dock for iron ore destined for Redcar Steelworks under British Steel Corporation, British Steel plc, Corus, Tata Steel Europe and Sahaviriya Steel Industries.
The Woodsmith Mine Tunnel is a 23-mile (37 km) long tunnel that will stretch between Woodsmith Mine at Sneatonthorpe near Whitby in North Yorkshire and the Wilton International complex on Teesside, England. The tunnel has been in development since 2016, but cutting of the tunnel bore did not start until April 2019, with a projected finish date of 2021, but it was still not complete by the end of 2023. By the end of July 2020, over 4 miles (6.4 km) of tunnel had been dug.
Ironstone mining in Cleveland and North Yorkshire occurred on a sizeable scale from the 1830s to the 1960s in present day eastern parts of North Yorkshire but has been recorded as far back as Roman times in mostly a small-scale and intended for local use. This Cleveland is not to be confused with a smaller area covered by the county of Cleveland from 1974-96.
The Eskdale Anticline is a dip-slip fault at Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. The anticline was thought to have stretched for approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) in a north–south direction underneath the mouth of the River Esk in Whitby, with a depth of 200 feet (61 m). However, modern geological studies have cast doubt on this, with a suggested displacement of only 12 metres (39 ft).
The Boulby line is a freight-only railway line in Redcar and Cleveland, England. The line was opened in stages between 1865 and 1882, being part of two railways that met at Brotton railway station. Passenger trains along the line ceased in 1960, and since then it has been a freight-only line dedicated to the potash and polyhalite traffic from Boulby, and steel products into Skinningrove Steelworks.