Global mining firm Anglo American plans to spend millions more on its fertiliser mining project in North Yorkshire after extending the project's scale.
The £29bn ($35bn) revenue company said it now expects to deliver its first fertiliser product from the site near Whitby in 2027. In an update accompanying global results for the firm, Anglo American said it had made significant changes to the scope and design of the project to optimise the value of what is thought to be the world's largest deposit of polyhalite - a natural fertiliser - underneath the North York Moors National Park.
About £829m ($1bn) spending is expected on the project each year under the new plan, which also increases the capacity of the mine shafts, to make way for higher production volumes. As a result of the changes - which Anglo says are for the long term benefit of the mine - a £1.4bn ($1.7bn) impairment has been reported in the firm's latest results.
