The York Project: Shaft Sinking Mission 2021: Reaching Polyhalite

2019

Wolf-Dieter Trodel, DMC Mining Services; Ken McIntyre, DMC Mining Services

Sirius Minerals is a UK based fertilizer development company focused on advancing into operation its polyhalite project in North Yorkshire, England.  The operation is known as the Woodsmith Mine which has an estimated 2.7 Billion Tonnes of reserves and is currently in the construction phase. DMC Mining Services was selected to carry out the construction of four shafts for the project, a production shaft of 6.75m diameter to a depth of 1594 meters, a ventilation shaft of 6.75 m diameter to a depth of 1565 m, and two additional shafts to support the construction of the material transport system (the MTS and Lockwood Beck intermediate) to 360m in depth for servicing the underground conveyor network for transport of product from the mine site to the costal port facilities located at Teasside. This paper will review the status of the project to date and the innovative approaches that DMC is utilizing to ensure a safe and successful shaft sinking project.

Keywords: Shaft sinking, innovation, shaft boring systems, SBR, DMC Mining Services, Herrenknecht AG, Sirius Minerals