Ugglebarnby potash drill exceeds expectations
SIGNIFICANT potash reserves have been found at a second temporary drilling site near Ugglebarnby.
York Potash confirmed they had discovered “two thick seams of potentially high grade polyhalite”.
The results show an upper ‘shelf’ seam with a thickness of 37 metres of polyhalite and a second, deeper ‘basin’ seam with a thickness of 45 metres of polyhalite.
Data has now been sent off to the British Geological Survey for detailed chemical analysis and in the meantime the company will move to its third site at Raikes Lane where drilling has already been completed to approximately 700 metres.
Drilling at the Ugglebarnby site took longer than expected because of fluid loss zones but by way of apology York Potash has made a donation of £500 to the Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby Parish Council annual village show.
Chris Fraser, managing director and CEO of Sirius Minerals said the results were positive and exceeded expectations.
He said: “These latest results are undoubtedly very positive news and exceed our expectations on the amount of potash underground.
“But we are conscious that work has taken longer than expected at this site and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to local residents. It goes without saying that the site will now be returned to its original condition.
“We will continue to work as quickly as possible to complete the temporary exploration work. Once we have this information, alongside other data and the seismic studies we will be able to start looking into possible minehead locations and conducting consultation around any plans.
“Our aim remains to ensure that we pick a location that minimises our environmental and visual impact wherever possible.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Whitby
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 2 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
darkstairs
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 09:21 AMWell said trooper! there will probably be more visual impact, and less new employment in this one...http:www.whitbygazette.co.uknewsbusinesscaravan_site_set_to_double_in_size_1_4163277
troopermerlin
Friday, January 27, 2012 at 08:20 AMIt's great to see that the prospects for the highest quality potash in the world have been achieved. The future for North Yorkshire is fantastic on the job front, and on the massively increased revenures that will come from tourism and the World Geosciences School that is planned for the area. I can understand the worries, if I lived locally I would be the same until I trsuted the fact that Sirius Minerals, with Chris Fraser at the helm will be constructed with a very sympathetic view to the environemnet. He has stated that he is considering the same ' barn type' buildings and keeping right away from the old style mining like that at Boulby. This is proposed to be a futuristic high tech concern taking into account all the local people's views and with benefit to both Yorkshire and to the British people. I think we are lucky in this age of recssion and debt to find this guiding light at the end of this tunnel, something which we can all look to to get us out of the grips of the financial vice. So, people of Yorkshire, don't be concerned about the buildings, they can be heavily disguised and with delivery of the potsh slurry being taken underground in pipelines, you won't even know it is there, except when you reap the benefits. I look forward to a great upturn in the economic and employment situation in North Yorkshire, and wish Sisius all the best.
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.