Construction is set to begin on a major new Yorkshire fertiliser mine next year following approval by planners. The £1.7bn potash mine wooed the locals after promises of more than 1000 jobs.
The project, which produces potash, is set in the North York Moors National Park and will create the UK’s first new mine in the past 45 years. Today, potash is produced worldwide at amounts exceeding 30 million tonnes per year, mostly for use in agricultural fertilizers.
It is believed that the mine will be one of the world's largest in terms of volume mined. It is set to extract over 10 million tonnes of polyhalite, used as a fertiliser, per year - this is likely to increase further.
UK firm Sirius Minerals, the mine's developer, has descibed pollyhalite as a “fertiliser of the future” that farmers will be able to use instead of multiple other products. Approving the proposal, several councillors said they believed the mine would help alleviate world hunger by increasing food production, as well as improving employment prospects for future generations in the north-east.
Sirius estimates the mine will increase North Yorkshire’s economy by 10%, with £48m injected directly into the stagnant local area, which has never fully recovered from the loss of coal mining and fishing industries.
Chris Fraser, managing director and chief executive of Sirius, said: “We are delighted to be through this key approvals process and to now be moving into the delivery phase of this world class Project.
“On behalf of everyone at Sirius, I want to thank the thousands of people who have supported the project to date and we look forward to beginning construction during 2016."
