Sirius reports ‘significant progress’

Sirius Minerals bought York Potash for £25m in January, in order to gain access to mineral rights on the North Yorkshire coast.

Sirius plans to open a potash mine between Scarborough and Whitby, which would be the first new mine of its kind in the UK for 40 years.

Sirius has just drilled the first new surface potash borehole for almost 35 years in North Yorkshire.

In a statement, the company said: “While this first hole adds to a very large database of historical exploration and analysis that has been conducted on the York Potash Project, it was pleasing to have delivered one of the world’s single thickest potash intersections ever reported.”

Chris Catlow, the chairman of Sirius Minerals, said: “Sirius continues to make significant progress towards its goal of becoming a major potash producer. The outstanding initial results of our first hole at the York Potash Project have validated our confidence in the quality of the project. We are all looking forward to delivering similar results for future holes in the drilling programme.

“The appointment of Graham Clarke as operations director has strengthened the company’s management team. Graham brings with him very relevant knowledge and experience from his 26 years at Cleveland Potash. We look forward to working with him over the coming years to bring York Potash into production.”

During the six month period to September 30 2011 the company made a consolidated loss of £2.3m, compared with a loss of £1m last year. Cash resources at the end of the period were £14.9m and the company’s net assets were £108.9m.