The Woodsmith Project
The Woodsmith Project is a new polyhalite fertiliser mine being developed in North Yorkshire and Teesside. It comprises a new mine site south of Whitby and a 37 kilometre tunnel that will transport the mined polyhalite, to new processing and shipping facilities on Teesside.
Project Overview
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The Woodsmith Project is setting new standards for sustainable mining. It consists of 5 key elements:
01
The underground mine, with two 1,600m deep shafts to access the polyhalite deposit, with a surface access point at Woodsmith Mine, Sneatonthorpe.
03
Two intermediate shafts, located along the route at Lockwood Beck and Ladycross Plantation.
05
An Overland Conveyor that will transport the polyhalite products from the Materials Handling Facility to a Port Handling Facility at Redcar Bulk Terminal. This is the element of the project subject of this public consultation.
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02
A Mineral Transport System consisting of a 37 km long tunnel that will transport the polyhalite from Woodsmith Mine to a granulation facility at Wilton International, Teesside.
04
A Materials Handling Facility at Wilton International Complex which will granulate the mined polyhalite.
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What is Polyhalite?
The Project is focused on mining the world’s largest and highest grade polyhalite resource. Polyhalite is a naturally occurring mineral containing four of the six most important plant nutrients – potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium - plus traces of various micronutrients.
Anglo American’s polyhalite products allows farmers to maximise their crop yield, increase crop quality and improve soil structure. It is also suitable for organic use and can help reduce environmental problems like leaching of nutrients into waterways and soil erosion.
Construction Progress
Good progress has been made with the construction of the Woodsmith Project, with first product to market expected in 2027.
As of the beginning of October, the tunnel boring machine, which is being used to construct the underground mineral transport system, had reached over 25 km from its starting point at Wilton on its 37 km journey to the mine site.
At Woodmsith Mine, the two 1.6 kilometre deep shafts are being sunk using innovative shaft boring roadheader machines. At the beginning of October, the service shaft had reached a depth of 550 metres. The production shaft, in which the shaft boring roadheader machines started in April this year, was at 340 metres.
The two intermediate shafts along the tunnel route, at Lockwood Beck and Ladycross Plantation, which are being used to support the construction of the tunnel and for ventilation during operations, have both been sunk to their full depth of ~340 metres.
Tunnelling crews are now accessing the tunnel boring machine from Lockwood Beck.