Sirius Minerals raises $425m for polyhalite mine project

Sirius Minerals on Wednesday confirmed that it has successfully raised $425m to finance the next stage of development of its Woodsmith polyhalite mine in North Yorkshire.

The placing is part of a $3.8bn financing plan for the project, which also includes a discounted share offering for the project, a revolving credit facility of up to $2.5bn, a $644m convertible bond issue and a $500m senior secured bond issue.

Sirius will issue 1.97m new shares at an issue price of 15p per new ordinary share, a discount of around 32% to Monday’s closing price and with placed shares representing around 28% of the company’s issued ordinary shares following admission on May 23.

Chris Fraser, Sirius' managing director and chief executive, said: "I am pleased that we have had such a positive response to the launch of our stage 2 financing solution which is key to unlocking the vast and long-term potential of our project. The order books were oversubscribed, providing scope for a modest increase in the funds raised, further strengthening our financial position as we turn our attention toward securing the next phase of our stage 2 financing requirements."

The mine is being developed to target the world's largest and highest grade polyhalite deposit, an evaporite mineral which can be used as a fertiliser and has other potential industrial applications.

The FTSE 250-traded company said it has already inked several deals for fertiliser supply to Europe, South America, China and Africa

Sirius Minerals' shares were down 8.50% to 15.94p at 0838 BST.