C O M P A N Y O V E R V I E W
Cleveland Potash remain at forefront of the mining industry Pioneering work with an extremely rare mineral and sustained investment in resources have seen the UK-based company thrive Written by: Sam Jermy Produced by: James Pepper
Photo credit [link]: Michael Jagger
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Pioneering work with an extremely rare mineral and sustained investment in resources have seen the UK-based company thrive
Boulby mine
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leveland Potash, the world’s first commercial producers of the rare evaporate mineral, polyhalite, is currently undergoing a £250 million investment in a revamping its facilities, which has created new jobs. The 80-acre Boulby mine, in North Yorkshire, England, is currently two year’s into a five-year project which will include the upgrade of existing underground machinery fleet such as larger continuous miners, drills, bolters, conveyors and shuttle cars. A proportion of the investment will go towards strengthening mine infrastructure to support the polyhalite extraction. It is reopening old roadways
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Main plant
and widening out existing roadways as well as commissioning, building and augmentation of underground bunkers. The firm, which is a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals (ICL), has undertook numerous improvement works at the surface too; everything from the ÂŁ16m rock shaft head tower renewal to improve hoisting and capacity potential to 5.3 million tonnes, to logistical improvements at its Tees Port facility. Significant investment is also planned to improve the efficiency of the surface potash process plant. Phil Baines, Managing Director and General Manager of Cleveland Potash, said: “We are very
Arches at Boulby
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AMCO is a specialist contractor providing sustainable, multi-disciplinary solutions to the Infrastructure, Environmental and Energy sectors. Within Infrastructure we operate in the specialist areas of mining services and moving structures, such as lock gates and swing bridges. Our Environmental business is focused upon flood defence. In the Energy sector our clients include all the major utilities such as E.ON, SSE and Magnox; for whom we create and maintain assets in nuclear, coal, gas, hydro and wind. With over 1,000 in-house staff we deliver nationally but are organised regionally.
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much improving all facets of the company and the site. Part of our plan was to specifically increase the workforce underground. “This facilitates four potash mining teams to work at any one time and independently deploy salt mining crews to push out the strategic roadways. “We’ve actually completed that employment programme now and it has grown the workforce by about 120 over the past 18 months, bringing our underground workforce to more than700, with nearly 1,200 employees in total.” The company’s under-
World leaders A significant development of Cleveland Potash is the polyhalite seam, which sits beneath the potash. The North York Moors coastline is home
SUPPLIER PROFILE
ground workforce has increased to more than 700, with an overall total of just under 1,200
AMCO
Amalgamated Construction (AMCO) provides a diverse range of specialist construction and engineering services. We create and maintain assets for both public and private sector customers in the specialist sectors of rail and engineering. AMCO has evolved through a combination of structured acquisition and organic growth into a ‘contractor of choice’. Our business relationships are based on trust, mutual respect, best value, whole life costs and continuous improvement. Website: www.amco-construction.co.uk
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C L E V E L A N D P O TA S H
Saltmine
“With any emerging, new product you have to prove that this new product is just as effective, safe and is generally okay compared to more established brands” – Phil Baines, Managing Director & General Manager
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to a previously unheard amount of polyhalite deposit, and is something which makes the organisation unique. It is the only one in the entire world mining the rare material used as a speciality fertilizers. Part of the five-year plan is to ramp up the annual polyhalite production tonnage to 600,000 by 2017. Borehole information on the mine dates as far back as the 1930’s. Planning permission was granted in a joint venture between Chartered Consolidated and ICI Chemicals which started shaft sinking in 1969. The first potash were hoisted in 1973, fullproduction came about in 1975 but it was not until recently that polyhalite started to be extracted commercially. Baines said: “We put two drifts down from the current salt horizon within the mine, in the central area, about three years ago now. “There’s millions of tonnes of it and at this stage, its looks relatively stable and strong, and we have proved you can machine cut it and support the infrastructure very well. “The compressive strength can be up to 150mpa compared 30mpa for the potash so it is significantly stronger but we have been working on it for two years now, and the mine has stood as firm as an office. “We also have a third mineral called carnallite so we have multiple options that take different processes which gives us much more flexibility
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Key Personnel Ronnie Shushan Chairman Phil Baines General Manager and Managing Director Steven Degen Director Rainer Marx Director
Aerial view of the mining operation at Boulby
Howard Clark Sales & Marketing Director
with our business plan.� The potassium chloride chemical, known as muriate of potash (MoP), is a product that typically contains 60 percent potash and is the most widely used form. This fertiliser aids in the formulation of vegetative matter and root production so international markets are quite comfortable as a result as this. Polyhalite on the other hand, is a more complex equation as there is no previous market or trading values to go by. Baines said: “With any emerging new product you have to prove that this new product is just as w w w. c l e v e l a n d p o t a s h . c o . u k
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effective, safe and is generally okay compared to more established brands. “So it’s just the same with this polyhalite, we have the potential to mine it and up the tonnage and slowly we have got to develop the market. “It’s not going to be straightforward and it is a different product as although it is a fertiliser, polyhalite has got different constituents and has different uses so it is going to be steady and a waiting game. “Over the last seven to 10 years, we have done agronomic trials with the polyhalite and it’s fair to say that every single pot test and trial it has not shown any detriment to any crop.” Polyhalite contains magnesium and calcium sulphate too and lighter, lumpier soil is where it has optimum effectiveness. It has excellent
Down in the mine
Face cleaned up ready for drilling - Polyhalite
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potential as an organic fertiliser, as well as a sulphate, which could work to Cleveland Potash’s benefit as UK and European soil tends to be sulphur deficient. The firm’s main product is 2-4mm granular potash made from a compaction process, and fertilizers are very much the core product. It can also mine anything between 500,000 and one million tonnes of rock salt, helping to de-ice UK and US roads in winter time. Company development New technology and equipment such as the flexible conveyor train, which helps to mine a much greater tonnage, enables Cleveland Potash to achieve improved efficiency. The underground diesel fleet is 150 vehicles strong and there is an onsite diesel vehicle
1 Million tonnes of rock salt can be mined by the company
Underground vehicle
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C L E V E L A N D P O TA S H
Clearing up face ready for drilling
The company has invested in new equipment
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Month 2014
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workshop. Once it goes underground, nothing comes to the surface for services. In co-ordination with parent company ICL, Cleveland Potash has garnered major international clients such as GrowHow, Yara International and Roullier Groupe and sells to clients as far away as Brazil. It does not ordinarily sell to Asia because its sister mine Iber Potash does this. When Baines joined the organisation a decade ago it was on the back of the closure of the Selby coalfield and he soon capitilised on the skillset readily available. He said: “Some were doing schooling on their own and doing degrees in engineering. It was evident to me there were people who had been here 30 years who were really good, practical guys. “I really set about trying to formalise this. I’m now President of the Midland Institute of Mining Engineers and through this, I promote best practice and strive to develop people.
“Over the last seven to 10 years, we have done agronomic trials with the polyhalite and it’s fair to say that every single pot test and trial it has not shown any detriment to any crop.”
“The (Polyhalite) compressive strength can be up to 150mpa compared 30mpa for the potash so it is significantly stronger…but the mine has stood as firm as an office” – Phil Baines
Operations Inside Boulby mine
– Phil Baines w w w. c l e v e l a n d p o t a s h . c o . u k
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Our Head Office and Control Centre is at Patrick Brompton Address: J & J Ward Limited, The Garage, Patrick Brompton, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 1JP Tel: 01677 450000 Fax: 01677 450003 Website: www.jandjward.com
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“Through the Institute and HM Inspectorate of Mines, we looked at competence and leadership in particular. In the past five years staff have been sponsored to go to Camborne School of Mines to do Msc in Mining Engineering, and various staff such as geologists, surveyors, mechanical and electrical engineers have been supported to broaden their knowledge by undertaking postgraduate study. Every workman has the NEBOSH working safely qualification and has a minimum two training days a year, and the avenue to go from workman to supervisor and middle-management
“A massive strategic advantage from a logistics sense is being just 30 kilometres away from the deepwater Tees Port in Middlesbrough” – Phil Baines
Staff have been sponsored to go to Camborne School of Mines to do Msc in Mining Engineering
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all the way up to the upper echelons of Cleveland Potash is quite fluid. Most people live within a 20 mile radius and many businesses on its vendors list are firms from within Cleveland. It donates funds to local football, rugby and cricket clubs, as well as the RNLI and Air Ambulance charities’ illustrating how ingrained Cleveland Potash is in the local community.
Loading facilities at Tees dock
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Looking forward Every company has its business and operational challenges and for Cleveland Potash it is going to be its cost per tonne, as it is a big mine with extensive facilities and expensive running costs.
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Company Information INDUSTRY
Mining HEADQUARTERS
Cleveland, UK FOUNDED
Planning permission granted in 1968 EMPLOYEES
1,200 REVENUE
World commodity, global prices affects it too of course but Baines has faith in its business plan. He added: “A massive strategic advantage from a logistics sense is being just 30 kilometres away from the deep-water Port in Middlesbrough, as it can load anything from 1,100 tonne to 65,000 tonne Panamax vessels at Tees dock. It makes us accessible to a wide range of clients. “Going forward Cleveland Potash will be developing the market for polyhalite, maintaining the level of potash production and looking into carnallite more. Further exploration and maintaining its reserve base is of paramount importance.”
£162 million (2012) PRODUCTS/ SERVICES
Potash fertilizers for agriculture
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CLEVELAND POTASH Boulby Mine, Loftus, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Cleveland TS13 4UZ, United Kingdom Tel. +44 (0) 1287 640 140 / Fax. +44 (0) 1287 640 934 enquiries@clevelandpotash.co.uk www.clevelandpotash.co.uk