Seventy roles to be made redundant at Anglo American potash mine near Whitby

The mine's owner, Anglo American, confirmed today that around 70 personnel have now left the business owing to a shake up in the way the firm is constructing the fertilizer mine project.

Anglo American said in a statement that the change in headcount was "relatively normal" for a large project such as the multi-million pound mine project and added that it had "treated our people fairly" in the redundancy process.

A spokesperson said: "We are currently making a number of changes to the way we are building the Woodsmith mine to align the project with Anglo American’s standards and long term aspirations for Woodsmith.

"Our new model will deliver the construction of the mineshafts in a slightly different way, meaning some of the roles we had previously are no longer required. While this is relatively normal in a large construction project of this nature, we understand it is difficult for those impacted and we believe we have treated our people very fairly in the process.

"Whilst this is a normal part of projects like this as we move from one phase to another, this has obviously been a difficult decision. By making these changes now, we are setting the project up for long term success and, as the construction activity ramps up over time, we expect to see the total number of jobs increase substantially, together with the wider economic benefits of our major investment in the region."

Earlier this month Anglo CEO Mark Cutifani revealed that the company invested nearly £390m in the project last year, with excavation of the mineral transport tunnel from Teesside passing the 18 km mark by the end of the year, beyond the intermediate access shaft site at Lockwood Beck.

The Lockwood Beck shaft is complete, having reached its target depth of 383 m, and shaft lining is currently under way. At the mine head itself, shaft boring has started in the services shaft, while progress is also being made on the production shaft infrastructure.

Mr Cutifani confirmed that the company is working on a number of changes to the design of the project to create an "enhanced configuration" and to ensure the project meets Anglo American’s safety and operating standards, as well as its commercial objectives, given the very long life of the mine.