In November 2016, leading fertiliser producer, Sirius Minerals, announced plans to press ahead with a funding deal to start the construction of a massive potash mine in county North Yorkshire, England, since named Woodsmith Mine.
The £2 billion (€2.3 billion) development, which is now well underway, will constitute one of Britain’s biggest mines; to incorporate a vast mine head at Woodsmith Mine, Sneaton, with shafts 1,500m deep, and a 23-mile (37km) underground tunnel to transport the potash to Wilton International near Redcar.
Core to the state-of-the-art project is the supply and delivery of a vast high quality, hardstone aggregate to be used for road construction and ground stabilisation works.
Subsequently, leading earthworks contractor, Collins Earthworks called on the services of expert Aggregate Industries to provide the vast material requirement.
From May to December 2017, Aggregate Industries’ specialist team has since supplied 81,000tonnes of Type 3 sub-base aggregates and 9,000tonnes of Type 1 sub-base aggregates. A further 20,000tonnes of material was provided during January and February 2018.
To effectively and sustainably manage the scale of supply demands, material has been sourced from the business’ Glensanda quarry, Scotland, and shipped to the nearby Teesside port, before being road hauled direct to the project. This approach has enabled the team to deliver in excess of 500tonnes/day, while operating a stringent quality procedure to ensure the material exceeded the structure and strength values required for the project.
“I would like pass on my thanks to Aggregate Industries for providing such a swift and efficient approach to our aggregate requirement which has been vital to keeping the project on schedule,” says Dave Shaw, site manager at Collins Earthworks.
“Working on a project of this calibre and scale, it is vital to partner with genuine experts with not just the product capabilities but the expertise behind it, and the team haven’t failed to deliver. I’m sure this relationship will continue as we progress the project over the next four years.”
John Taylor, sales manager, Aggregates North, says: “Having worked on numerous projects of this size, we were able to apply our learnings to ensure an even more robust approach to the aggregate supply. From working closely with Collins Earthworks at the inventory stages, we have put a stringent plan in place to ensure a continuity of supply without disruption, ensuring the teams have the exact specific technical and quality specification of aggregate as and when they need it.”
