Woodsmith Mine is a deep planned potash and polyhalite mine located near 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 was 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 underground conveyor that would be installed to transport the raw material offsite to a plant on Teesside 37 km (23 mi) away. The mine is expected to have a life of 100 years and has been labelled the biggest mining project in Britain for decades; its twin shafts will be the deepest commercial mineshafts in Britain. The project is expected to generate over £100 billion for the UK economy over a period of 50 years. Once it is functioning it will be the deepest mine in Europe and have the longest tunnel in Great Britain.
History
Potash in North Yorkshire Deposits of potash in North Yorkshire have been well known about since the 1930s when boreholes drilled for gas and oil also discovered the mineral. At least three submissions to mine the mineral were submitted in 1971 and a further one in 1978. Such was the belief of the venture in the Whitby area, that even after the railway line between Whitby and Scarborough had closed, a small section between Prospect Hill at Whitby and Hawsker was left in-situ for a commercial potash venture near to the village of Stainsacre.
Sirius Minerals The initial proposal was forwarded from York Potash to the North York Moors National Park Authority in 2011. This enabled the Authority to allow test drilling at various sites along the coast between Whitby and Scarborough. The company decided to develop a site next to Doves Nest farm near to the hamlet of Sneatonthorpe. The geological survey pointed to a resource that is the world's largest and highest grade polyhalite deposit. Sirius withdrew its initial planning application in 2013 to re-examine key elements, particularly the project's environmental impact. 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. Originally, the transport methods for delivering the product from the mine were conveyor, pipeline and by rail on the Esk Valley line. 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. When complete, the Project would be among the largest mining projects ever built in the United Kingdom. Sirius intended to have the mine and associated tunnel operational by 2021, with preferred bidder status on construction being announced in June 2016.
The project requires the company to construct two 1,500 m (4,900 ft) shafts to reach the 70 m (230 ft) mineral seam which includes a mineable area of around 25,200 ha (62,000 acres). The twin shafts have been labelled as the deepest commercial mineshafts in Britain, and the mine will also be the deepest in Europe. To minimise the amount of visible infrastructure within the North York Moors National Park, a protected area, the polyhalite ore will be transported 37 km (23 mi) at an average depth of 250 m (820 ft) in a tunnel to the company's processing plant at Teesside. The tunnel will consist of two conveyors: the first will be 24 km (15 mi) long and the second will be 13 km (8.1 mi). There will be an interchange point between the two conveyors at Lockwood Beck, near Guisborough. After granulation and drying, the finished product— marketed as POLY4—will be exported from the nearby harbour facilities. The mine will produce 20 million tonnes a year of polyhalite, potash and POLY4 and is expected to be in production for 100 years. Woodsmith Mine has been projected as contributing over £100 billion for the UK economy over a period of 50 years. In August 2017, the 1,500 m (4,900 ft) deep tunnels were being constructed on the site. The Times said that the project was the "biggest mining project Britain has seen in decades". Orders for the mineral have already been agreed with third-party distributors in America and South-East Asia to receive 1,500,000 t (1,700,000 tons) and 750,000 t (830,000 tons) respectively each year. In September 2018, Sirius Minerals revealed that had signed a seven-year deal with a Brazilian fertiliser distributor to export 2,500,000 t (2,800,000 tons) per year to South America. All mineral supplies will be delivered from a new harbour area on Teesside. The company acquired a site adjacent to the defunct Redcar Steelworks site in December 2017, which will serve as the northern portal of the conveyor. The site will be known as Bran Sands with initial building taking place in 2019. However, the site was assessed as not have satisfactory loading facilities for shipping, so in May 2018, Sirius signed an agreement with the South Tees Site Company, to option the site which lies 4 km (2.5 mi) from the Bran Sands site, but offers better access to the River Tees. In November 2018, Sirius agreed a multi-million pound contract to use the site next to the Redcar Bulk Terminal instead. Engineers will install a storage area and ship loading facilities to allow the product to be exported from the original site.
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