Save Sirius plea to Government as Yorkshire mine sinks into cash crisis
THE Government is being urged to provide emergency financial support to Sirius Minerals to prevent its huge fertiliser mine in North Yorkshire from running out of money.
Sources said Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Sajid Javid were monitoring the situation at the FTSE 250 company, whose ambitious project near Whitby has been thrown into doubt.
Earlier this month, the firm stunned investors, who include 85,000 private individuals and many from the local area, by pulling a £400 million bond offer. It blamed ‘market conditions’.
The bonds are key to the future of Sirius – which is led by chief executive Chris Fraser – as they will trigger a £2 billion financing package from US investment bank JP Morgan. Without the funding, the company fears it will run out of cash by the end of September and could crash into administration.
The original plan was for the Government to underwrite the £2 billion, which would have been cheaper. However, Sirius went with a more expensive option as talks with the Government dragged on without a conclusion.
MPs are calling on the Government to help out. Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP for Whitby and Scarborough, said: ‘We don’t want to be in a situation where the Government has to step in because it goes wrong. We need the Government to assist with the financing so the project can continue.’
Alex Cunningham, Labour MP for Stockton North, wrote to Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, urging the Government to ‘put your money where your mouth is’ and provide a funding guarantee. Woodsmith Mine – the largest private investment in the North of England – is under construction and will start mining polyhalite – a type of potash that will be used in farming – in 2021. The firm estimates it will create 4,000 local jobs, add £2.3 billion to GDP and generate £2.5 billion in exports.
A Sirius spokesman said the company still planned to revisit the markets.