Around 450 workers have already left the Woodsmith Mine, between Whitby and Scarborough, and another 450 are expected to depart by early next year.
Anglo American says it is making progress with sinking shafts at Whitby's Woodsmith Mine despite the slow down of work at the site.
Around 900 workers are losing their jobs as investment at the mine is slowed.
Matt Parsons from Anglo American says some work is continuing:
Anglo American has said that it will be closing its Scarborough office at Resolution House as part of a ‘consolidation’ alongside wider cost-cutting in its operations at the Woodsmith Mine and a major reduction of capital investment.
From mid-December, the company will no longer operate from Resolution House in Scarborough or from its site office at Wilton International.
Anglo American, which announced more than 100 job losses at the fertiliser mine this summer, said it had made the decision to consolidate its team at “one location at Woodsmith Mine on a temporary basis during the slowdown”.
It is understood that the company will retain ownership of the Resolution House site and plans to return “when the project ramps back up”.
The sinking of the service shaft is ongoing and will soon reach the Sherwood sandstone layer. However, sinking of the production shaft and lateral development work at the mine site have been paused.
Tunnelling work is also currently halted for planned maintenance, but is scheduled to restart at a reduced rate of progress in late 2023 or early 2024. Access to the tunnel will shift from Lockwood Beck to the Lady Cross site once work restarts.
Matt Parsons from Anglo American says the slowdown has meant a 60 percent reduction in the workforce.
Anglo American added that contractors are working to redeploy workers to other projects, with around 200 people already placed. Additionally, many workers, particularly those with technical and construction skills, are finding new jobs in other projects, notably in Teesside.
They say that, in collaboration with local councils and the combined authority, the mine's owners have implemented a support programme to help impacted workers. This program offers support and training to around 300 people, including assistance with obtaining necessary certifications for new jobs. Anglo American emphasizes its commitment to continuing its social program in the area.
The company is developing a polyhalite fertiliser mine and a 23-mile tunnel as part of a plan to transport the product to Teesside and sell the fertiliser globally to boost crop yields.
In June, the company’s chief executive officer in the crop nutrients division, Tom McCulley, said that “budget constraints within Anglo, which are outside of the Woodsmith team’s control, necessitate that we slow down for 18 months”.
Capital investment in the Woodsmith project is set to be reduced from a planned £800m a year up to 2027 to £160m next year following the rejection of a multi-billion pound takeover bid by BHP.
The operation of the mine is understood to cost more than £2m a day.
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