Sirius Minerals reported a more profound annual loss, as it was continuously investing in the development of a new fertilizer project in Yorkshire, UK. The UK-based fertilizer development company booked a net loss of £78.9m, compared to a £23.0m loss a year earlier. “Our world class project based in North Yorkshire has the potential to disrupt the global fertilizer market and contribute substantially to the UK economy,” CEO Chris Fraser said.
“We achieved a number of important performance milestones in 2017, with commencement of construction, incremental supply agreements signed, a move to the London Stock Exchanges’s main market and inclusion in the FTSE250 amongst the highlights,” Mr. Fraser added and also pointed out that the company was continuing its innovations and hard work on all parts of the project “to secure value for shareholders and are focused on ensuring 2018 will be another year of significant progress on all fronts, as demonstrated by our recent shaft sinking contract.”
The fertilizer project is located near Whitby, North Yorkshire, and it will target the extraction of polyhalite, a unique type of potash and multi-nutrient fertilizer. The area contains the largest, highest-grade resource of polyhalite to be found anywhere in the world. The polyhalite resource of 2.66 billion tons will be extracted via two mineshafts and transported outside of the National Park to Teesside on a conveyor belt system in an underground tunnel. It will then be granulated at a materials handling facility, with the majority being shipped to international markets. Sirius Minerals is aiming to achieve first product from the mine by the end of 2021, with an initial production capacity of 10 million tons annually.
