Sirius secures financing for stage one of potash mine

In its full year results for the year ended December 31 2016. Sirius Minerals said it had completed Stage 1 Financing by securing funding of $1.2 billion required to begin the construction of the company’s polyhalite project in North Yorkshire.

The company said it was progressing with Stage 2 Financing through mandating a group of six financial institutions.

Cash resources at the end of December 2016 were £665.3 million - liquid funds including investments and restricted cash - compared with £29.1million as at December 31 2015.

In a statement, Sirius said: “If 2015 was principally about securing key approvals, until that time seen by the market as the major barrier to our progress, then 2016 was the year we cleared the second major hurdle - stage 1 financing.

“As long-term shareholders will know, the completion of our stage 1 financing in November 2016 was the culmination of much hard work in the preceding years including resource exploration and definition, the signing of several bankable sales contracts and the securing of key planning approvals.

“In 2016 we published the key findings of our definitive feasibility study (DFS). The study was essentially prepared over two years, with input from the results of planning approvals and contributions from a wide range of experienced consultancies.

“The DFS defined a business that has the potential to be a world leader in the fertilizer industry, with expected low operating costs, healthy margins and a very long asset life.”