Pledge to monitor mine as construction starts on £2.3bn park project

A NORTH Yorkshire planning authority says that it will continue to monitor operations as work on one of the biggest developments for decades gets under way.

Work officially started on the construction of a £2.3bn polyhalite mine near Whitby last week, almost two years after planning permission was granted.

Sirius Minerals, the firm behind the Woodsmith Mine in the heart of the North York Moors National Park, will have to adhere to a strict list of planning and mitigation rules and regulations during the construction period to offset any impact from the works.

Andy Wilson, chief executive officer at the North York Moors National Park, said: “We appreciate that there will be some disruption during the construction stage of the mine and are working closely with all parties to carry out mitigation and ensure that we can deliver the range of positive projects funded by the S106 agreement.”

He added that two key posts to lead on the monitoring of the mine construction had also been appointed by the authority.

Sirius Minerals first aired plans for mining in the area back in 2011 and commenced test drilling before revealing that the area of the North Yorkshire coastline had some of the best reserves of the mineral in the world.

The scale of the deposit is thought to be enough to mine for a 100-year project.

Polyhalite is a naturally occurring product made up of potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium. It will be piped underground to a processing plant in Teesside where it will be sold as fertilizer to clients around the world with deals signed in North and Central America and China.