Sirius Minerals makes good progress at Woodsmith Mine

The FTSE 250 company signed a tunnelling contract during the period with STRABAG, for drive one of the mineral transport system from Wilton to Lockwood Beck.

A shaft sinking contract was signed with DMC as well, and the contractor handover process was now said to be largely complete.

It said it opportunities to accelerate the production of first polyhalite by up to six months were now being progressed with DMC.

The production shaft bore hole intersected a total of 53m of polyhalite during the quarter, and demonstrated consistency with previous holes, Sirius claimed.

“It is an exciting time for the company as we continue to construct our game-changing Woodsmith Mine which represents the largest private sector investment in the North,” said managing director and CEO Chris Fraser.

“The infrastructure we're building will allow us to create thousands of jobs, deliver economic benefits for the local and national economies for generations to come, whilst at the same time both delivering value for our shareholders and playing our part in improving fertilizer practices around the world.”

Fraser said STRABAG brought with it “world-leading” tunnelling experience, a “can-do attitude” and another significant, well-aligned partner committed to the success of the project.

“We are now looking forward to adding progress on our mineral transport system to the impressive progress we have already made on early works and mine shafts.”