Anglo American: Job cuts will not affect workers at Yorkshire’s Woodsmith mine, says firm

The firm said it was currently unable to provide numbers on how many job roles would be affected, adding that it was at the early stages of the consultation process.

Located near Sneaton, south of Whitby, Anglo American’s Woodsmith mining project is set to eventually mine for polyhalite, a mineral which can be used as a fertiliser. The project falls into the company’s crop nutrients division.

Around 2,000 people previously worked on the Woodsmith project, but these numbers are thought to have been reduced to around 1,000. Reductions came after the company announced a “slowdown” of the scheme last year.

Speaking on the recently announced job cuts, a spokesperson for Anglo American said: “These changes do not have a direct impact on roles at Crop Nutrients following the restructure of the business due to the slowdown announced in May 2024.

"The focus for the team at Woodsmith continues to be to work together to reaccelerate the project as soon as possible and continue to deliver economic benefits to the region."

Anglo American CEO, Duncan Wanblad, said last month that the firm does not expect to “ramp up” work on the scheme again until at least 2027.

According to the firm’s latest results, capital expenditure on the Woodsmith project for 2024 was $834m (£661m), up from $641m (£508m) in 2023. The company said that capital expenditure for 2025 is expected to be around $0.3bn (£0.23bn) and nil in 2026.

The firm’s latest announcement on jobs comes amid a major restructure at Anglo American, launched last year after the company saw off a £39bn takeover attempt from rival mining giant BHP.

As part of the restructure, the company is undertaking what it describes as a “simplification” of its portfolio, and working to sell off a number of its assets to instead focus on copper, iron ore, and crop nutrients.

A spokesperson for the firm said: "Anglo American has been progressing at pace with the simplification of its portfolio to focus on copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients - creating a simpler, more resilient and more profitable company.

“Sales have been agreed for the steelmaking coal and nickel businesses, while the demerger of Anglo American Platinum is well on track for June.

“These significant changes naturally require adjustment to the resourcing of our corporate offices so proposed changes to corporate roles in our head offices have been announced, mainly in London and Johannesburg, subject to consultation.”

As part of the simplification, the firm is also seeking to sell off its De Beers diamond segment, the world’s biggest diamond miner.

Anglo American last month said that it had been forced to write down the value of De Beers by $2.9m (£2.24m), as the growth in lab-grown diamonds continues to disrupt the industry.

The firm said at the time that its plan to sell off De Beers may be delayed, adding that it did not expect much progress in the first half of the year.