'Our bid for Sirius Minerals will safeguard the project and take it global' - Anglo American boss

Mark Cutifani, chief executive of Anglo American, said that he and his firm saw huge potential in the Sirius mining project which aims to extract polyhalite from a mile below the North York Moors to use as fertiliser and said that his firm had the capacity, connections and personnel to take the product into global markets.

Anglo American officially submitted a £405m rescue bid for troubled Sirius this week, which has been struggling to raise financing for the project which will support some 4,000 jobs in the region.

He said that Anglo American could offer support beyond financing for Sirius, pointing to its expertise in marketing, production and logistics.

And, while acknowledging that Anglo American’s offer would represent a loss to some shareholders, he said he was hopeful that those involved would see the long-term benefits the project would bring to North Yorkshire’s economy.

Speaking during a visit to the mine, Mr Cutifani said: “Across the rest of the industry we have been making the biggest productivity gains over the last five years.

"We have got people on the ground that can support them logistically because we are going to have to get into a lot of markets. We think the infrastructure we have already built provides a running start for the team.

“And finally the financial side of things and the balance sheet we bring. It is so difficult to develop this kind of project if you are a single mine company. Having somebody like Anglo

American that has a business worth more than $40bn, that financial support is very important I think we could provide a lot of certainty to the project and that is important for everyone.”

Mr Cutifani had high praise for the Sirius management team and said the believed CEO Chris Fraser had “left no stone unturned” in terms of looking to secure financing.

However Mr Cutifani said that given the level of risk his firm considered the offer to be “fair and reasonable”.

“I have had direct contact from shareholders,” he said.

“I understand the disappointment in terms of the price. There are obviously a lot of shareholders that have bought in at a lower price but many of the employees at Sirius are shareholders.

“In talking to people across the business I explained our understanding and concern but at the same time we have had to put on the table the best offer we could that reflects the risk and we have made that very clear.

“The board of Sirius has pointed out that they think this is the best offer they are going to see.

“We think we have done our best with the offer we have put on the table and we are hopeful that people will see the long-term benefits we can bring to the project.”

Mr Cutifani said that the products it aims to produce would “move the dial” for Anglo American.

Unlike most fertilizers, polyhalite is cleared for use in the growing of organic food. Anglo currently operates in vast markets such as Brazil and China, with Mr Cutifani saying that it plays into the direction that agriculture needs to go in the future to meet climate change targets.

“It is a very clean product and it has a very low carbon footprint,” he said.

Mark Cutifani assured The Yorkshire Post the support he had seen in the North Yorkshire community for the Sirius scheme was “unlike anything I have every seen”.

He said that Sirius was home to “lots of very smart and skilled people” and that Anglo intended to generate jobs.

“Yes we are a big global company but we are very proud of the fact that we try to keep our operations local,” he said.

“We will try and make sure we are a partner of the community behave in the right way and part of the future of Yorkshire. That’s very important to us.”