Yorkshire fertiliser mine plan put on hold

THE company behind a sprawling fertiliser mine in Yorkshire has put its financing plans on hold after it was approached with an alternative deal.

Sirius Minerals said a major global financial institution had a proposal to replace a complicated arrangement to raise £2.3bn of debt.

In a statement, Sirius said it believes the new plan offers a better solution as it seeks to build its Woodsmith mine, which will dig under the North York Moors to produce a form of fertiliser called polyhalite. The new deal would probably be simpler than a complicated funding scheme which Sirius unveiled in January.

This would have included issuing up to £ 540m of bonds, borrowing £1.2bn from banks and taking the rest from the Government’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Sirius said it will try to agree a deal with the mystery backer by the end of April. Shares climbed 7.9pc on the news, closing up 1.41p, at 19.36p.

This almost made up for a more- than 9pc fall the previous day, which was not connected to any company news.