Work at Whitby's Anglo American mine halted due to 'safety fears'
The delay at the huge polyhalite mine near Whitby is linked to the uncertainty of people’s jobs, according to owner Anglo American.
“It is due to current uncertainty for a lot of people about their future,” it told The Yorkshire Post in a statement. “And given the high-risk working environment, a decision was made to pause shaft sinking activity at the Woodsmith site until start of dayshift on Monday 24 June.”
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Hide AdThe mine project is being put on hold until further notice as its owners attempt to raise funds to continue the project after a failed hostile takeover earlier this year caused Anglo American to tighten expenditure.


Third party contractor Redpath is responsible for sinking shafts at the mine, which was initially intended to be operational by 2021. A number of delays have hit the project since tunnelling began in 2017.
Workers met with management yesterday to discuss proposals for changes to their organisation and work structures in order to establish clarity on which roles at the mine were under threat.
Anglo American says it started consultation with its own staff about halving its 300-strong workforce “several weeks ago”. Meanwhile, it appears Redpath and other contractors have only been able to consult staff on possible job losses more recently.
Redpath did not respond to a request for comment.
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Hide AdLabour’s candidate for the Scarborough and Whitby constituency, Alison Hume, has alleged work at the mine has stopped this week after workers at Woodsmith refused to work because of how Anglo American has handled the planned mothballing.
“[Workers] tell me the reason the mine has been shut until Monday is because they are refusing to work until they are being treated fairly,” she told The Yorkshire Post.
“Anglo American needs to get around the table and sort it out with transparency and care.”
Ms Hume also said she’s concerned about the impact the job losses would have on the area.
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Hide Ad“At the heart of these devastating job cuts are families who tell me they feel frantic about their future. They’ve left well paid jobs to work at Woodsmith with the reassurance of continuity of employment.
“Now, with big mortgages and a continued cost of living crisis, some of Woodsmith’s workers say they’re facing losing their homes and their livelihoods,” she said.
Anglo American added: “We have always, and continue to, reiterate the importance of people working safely and that any job should be stopped if necessary - the safety of everyone is paramount. This is why we have taken the decision to pause sinking until Monday.
“The new business strategy has been planned in a way to best enable re-acceleration in the future. For now, we need to continue working to schedule to ensure the long-term future of the project.”
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