Member Info for Alicia42

Why say 'by the end of April' if it has no particular meaning?
I, therefore, expect information about the funding tomorrow...at the latest.

Thanks Funky

'... not overly confident it will be before May'

You mean next week, Roobans. lol

Cranleigh, you're right about FT article:

Sirius Minerals has found a European distributor for the fertiliser it plans to produce from a deep mine on the North York moors.

News of the deal with BayWa, a Germany agribusiness, comes as the London-listed company seeks to raise $3bn of debt to complete development of the project.

Under the 10 year agreement, BayWa will buy up to 2.5m tonnes a year of polyhalite, a natural fertiliser.

Sirius said the deal with BayWa would deliver the highest pricing of any of the supply, or offtake, agreements it has signed around the world. These now total more than 10m tonnes per annum.

After signing deals with distributors in China, Asia and the Americas, investors had been eager to see Sirius sign up a European partner for its commercially untested product.

“The European fertiliser market is highly advanced and the second largest in the world behind China. We are delighted to be partnering with a leading agribusiness to distribute our Poly4 product into this key market,” said Sirius chief executive Chris Fraser.

The pricing mechanism in the agreement is linked to the amount received by BayWa on sales of polyhalite, or Poly4 as it is known.

First production from the Woodsmith mine is scheduled for 2021 and is expected to reach full capacity by 2024.

'Sirius Minerals secures European supply deal for Yorkshire project'

Fertiliser distribution deal with BayWa comes as group looks to raise $3bn of debt

Only the headline ffc....sorry...A.

22.00 - 23.00 at present

The last page is 3.

Yet big institutional investors in the City of London have not warmed to the company, which has a share register dominated by 85,000 retail investors, about a quarter of whom live in the north-east and Yorkshire.

Over the past year, Sirius’s share price has fallen 26 per cent to 21p — about the same level it was trading at after planning permission was granted in 2015.

The difficulty of building a global market for polyhalite, the risk of delays and cost overruns and question marks about the commercial clout and strength of some offtake partners — Sirius had to buy a stake in its Brazilian distributor — are just some of the concerns held by investors.

Back on Teesside, Mr Fraser and his chairman, Russell Scrimshaw, are steeling themselves for the next round of financing discussions.

“The money is being swallowed up on everything that’s going on here,” said Mr Scrimshaw, pointing to Stella Rose. “We need to get the funding done so we can stay on the schedule we have set ourselves.

“But I don’t think anyone who comes up here?.?.?.?would be anything other than amazed by how quickly this mine has evolved. It’s a major private sector project that we should all be very proud of.”

2.

But behind artificial embankments a team of Sirius workers and contractors have cut a vertical hole as wide as a fairground Ferris wheel 60 metres into the ground. The concrete-lined chasm will eventually house the submerged head of a shaft that Sirius will use to access a massive deposit of polyhalite 1,500 metres below the ground.

The company will use another shaft to extract the fertiliser, which will be loaded into a skip and hoisted on to a conveyor belt system 350m from the surface. From here it will start a journey to Redcar via a 37km underground tunnel, which Sirius decided to build to lessen the environmental impact of the project.

The polyhalite will then be processed and shipped to customers in the US, China and Brazil to spread on crops.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a mining engineer,” said Graham Clarke, operations director at Sirius. “It’s a chance to show the world we can still build big, complex mines in the UK.” The resource discovered by Sirius could support more than 100 years of mining.

If all goes to plan Sirius will start extracting polyhalite in 2021 and hit 10m tonnes a year of production by 2024. An expansion to 20m tonnes a year is planned but the company will need additional approvals from National Park UK.
Sirius has secured commitments to supply up to 8.2 tonnes a year of output from the mine © Ian Forsyth/FT

Polyhalite, from the Latin “many salts”, combines four of the six macronutrients essential to plant growth: calcium, magnesium, potassium and sulphur.

Sirius said it could be used straight or blended with other fertilisers. One of the attractions of polyhalite, which will be sold under the brand name Poly4, is that it offers a cheaper alternative to speciality products such as sulphate of potash. It also has a low chloride content, which is better for plants and the environment.

“I think there is a market, and one big enough to be economical?.?.?.?though probably not as big as Sirius estimates,” said Berenberg analyst Rikin Patel, who expects the company to secure the $3bn of debt funding.

“Whether this happens in line with previous guidance remains to be seen?.?.?.?it could easily slip into May although this wouldn’t be an issue.”

To date, Sirius has secured commitments — known as offtake agreements — to supply up to 8.2 tonnes a year of output from the mine, where it hopes to deliver more than 1,000 permanent jobs.

https://www.ft.com/content/148ec54c-6136-11e9-a27a-fdd51850994c?desktop=true&segmentId=d8d3e364-5197-20eb-17cf-2437841d178a#myft:notification:instant-email:content

At a windswept industrial estate outside Redcar in north-east England the next phase of a huge construction project is about to begin.

After a blessing with holy water the blades of a massive drill, which will drive a 5 metre-wide tunnel through the dry local mudstone, spins into life.

For Chris Fraser, the chief executive of Sirius Minerals, the launch of tunnel-boring machine Stella Rose is another important step towards his vision of building a $5bn fertiliser mine under the peaceful national parkland of the North York Moors.

But that dream will not become a reality unless the British-born Australian entrepreneur can raise $3bn in the debt market to finish the job. Without additional funding, Sirius — which means “brightest star” in Latin — will run short of cash later this year and work on one of the world’s biggest mines will grind to a halt.

Sirius has already raised $1.4bn from investors, including $250m from Australia’s richest woman, Gina Rinehart, but struggled to secure a loan guarantee from the UK government, even though prime minister Theresa May has praised the project.

If Mr Fraser, a former investment banker who helped finance some of the biggest iron ore mines in Australia, is feeling the pressure, he is not showing it.
This concrete-lined chasm will house the submerged head of a shaft that Sirius will use to access a massive deposit of polyhalite 1,500 metres below the ground © Ian Forsyth/FT

“We are making good progress,” he said after the launch of the tunnel boring machine this month. “We are pretty sure we will get this.”

Sirius revealed in March that it was in talks with a “major global financial institution” — understood to be JPMorgan — over a new debt funding package for the project, which it hoped to finalise by the end of the month.

“The best way to describe what we are working on is a capital markets-led structure rather than traditional bank and project finance”, said Mr Fraser. Sirius also needs to raise $400m to $600m of equity to cover higher tunnelling costs.

If it were not for a couple of cranes rising above the tree line it would be easy to drive past the Woodsmith mine, which sits in the hills two miles south of Whitby.

But behind artificial embankments a team of Sirius workers and contractors have cut a vertical hole as wide as a fairground Ferris wheel 60 metres into the ground. The concrete-lined chasm will eventually house the submerged head of a shaft that Sirius wi

Hi LaurenLouise!
Good to hear from you ; have a good Easter...and don't eat too many chocolate eggs...as I may well do.
They go well with Krug though...I believe! LOL

Myo
I was merely defending - along with Fred - the right of some of our number to express
their...overenthusiasm(?).

I agree that 'In my opinion' would help, but, by now, we all know (or should know)
the SXX situation. Surely we can afford to be magnanimous? It doesn't take new members
long to catch on to the facts. IMO lol

Well said, Fred. Too much personal criticism here...it's a forum...we should be
allowed to say what we think, even if it's deemed unhelpful by others.

It is heartbreaking KOH

It's a 12th century building which is part of our Medieval Cultural heritage,
and although it can be rebuilt, it will have lost its authenticity, its ancient materials, its smell...

There is a very, very small decrease in the Shorts: 7.39 to 7.29!

Let us spare a thought for the terrible fire that's destroying Notre Dame in Paris.
I have an apartment in Paris and am especially shocked at the destruction of this
iconic building. Alicia

A priest's blessing ?...but we don't send little boys down chimneys...or mines anymore!

I just got an alert on my phone from the FT
"Sirius Minerals confident of securing $3bn debt package" - CEO!
Sorry I have no more info that that...

PerArdua - you say what I would have liked to have said and you put it so well!

Mail12 Thank you for showing us this short video;
the number of people being employed by/for Sirius is quite remarkable
and it's great that the local authority are training many of them.