Name of the Project
Woodsmith polyhalite project.

Location
North Yorkshire coast, south of Whitby in England, in the UK.

Project Owner/s
Anglo American.

Project Description
Woodsmith is a large-scale, long-life Tier 1 asset that is being developed to access the world’s largest-known deposit of polyhalite – a natural mineral fertiliser product containing potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium, which every plant needs.

Polyhalite ore will be extracted through a 1.6-km-deep mine shaft and transported to Teesside by an underground conveyor belt in a 37 km mineral transport system tunnel, thereby minimising any environmental impact on the surface. 

It will be granulated at a materials handling facility to produce a comparatively low-carbon fertiliser – known as POLY4 – that will then be exported from the port facility to a network of customers worldwide.

The project will have a final design capacity of 13-million tonnes a year.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Anglo American announced in May 2024 that it will reduce capital investment from $200-million in 2025 to no capital expenditure in 2026, to support balance sheet deleveraging.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
UK politicians have called on Anglo American to rethink halting its work at the Woodsmith fertiliser project – part of an asset overhaul Anglo announced after rejecting takeover proposals from global miner BHP.

Woodsmith provides work for about 2 000 people, including contractors, according to the mining company's website.

Anglo had been looking for partners for Woodsmith for about six months, CEO Duncan Wanblad told Reuters on May 16, reiterating that the business would be one of three pillars of the revamped miner, even as it slowed its development, delaying first production from 2027.

The decision to stall the project is part of a radical plan announced earlier in May to divest or sell assets following a 94% plunge in annual profit.

A feasibility study for the project is expected only by the beginning of 2025. This would have been followed by a board full notice to proceed in the first half of the year if the wider assets restructuring had not been initiated.

Analysts have estimated total spending on Woodsmith at about $9-billion.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Anglo American group head of corporate affairs James Wyatt-Tilby, tel +44 20 7968 8759 or email james.wyatt-tilby@angloamerican.com.