Government scientists say potash ‘vital’ to future of agriculture

GOVERNMENT researchers have stressed a long-term supply of potash is essential for the future of the UK’s farming industry as plans for a £1bn mining operation in Yorkshire are due to take a major step forward.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Mar 2013, 00:01 BST

The Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) was commissioned to carry out the study by the company behind plans for the mine to highlight the importance the mineral, which is a 
key ingredient in fertiliser, will have on the future of food production.

The research carried out by FERA at its base at Sand Hutton, York, was announced yesterday 
as it also emerged proposals for a 27-mile pipeline to link the 
mineshaft with a processing plant are due to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in the spring.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The FERA study claimed polyhalite, the rare mineral which will be extracted by the York Potash Project, has the potential to play a major role in boosting yields and restoring soil with depleted nutrient levels to help satiate the global demand for food.

It is estimated that nearly a third of the 506,000 tonnes of potash used in the UK every year is currently imported.

York Potash’s head of external affairs, Gareth Edmunds, said: “This report from an important Government agency confirms the importance of potash to UK food production and the risks of not securing a long-term UK supply of this essential mineral.

“A new modern mine would safeguard UK-sourced supplies of high-value potash products and help to avoid a future unsustainable scenario which could see the UK becoming more reliant on highly priced food imports.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Reports to outline the proposed route and technology which would be employed in the pipeline have been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, the Government’s organisation responsible for overseeing the nation’s largest infrastructure projects.

A full planning application for the pipeline from the proposed mineshaft to the south of Whitby in the North York Moors National Park to a processing plant in Teesside is due to be sent to the inspectorate in the next two months.

A planning application for the actual mine was submitted in January to the North York Moors National Park Authority, and a decision is due to be made in May.

Related topics:YorkshireGovernmentYork