A much-needed shot in the arm for the UK’s dormant mining industry has been delivered by Sirius Materials.
The company has been given the green light to build a fertiliser mine in the North York Moors National Park after a nail-biting, eight-seven vote, with gleeful backslapping among investors at yesterday’s special planning meeting by the beauty spot’s authority.
The odds looked stacked against the AIM-listed firm after a report from officials less than two weeks ago stated that the economic benefits of the mine do not outweigh the potential environmental damage to the Yorkshire park.
The shares, which were suspended yesterday pending the decision, resumed trading today and soared 8.75p, or 58%, to 23.5p.
Managing director Chris Fraser, who has led the company since it took charge of the York Potash project in January 2011, called it “just the beginning” for Sirius.
He added: “The case for the project has always been compelling because it will not only generate so many jobs and economic benefits, but also because it is accompanied by such extensive mitigations, safeguards and environmentally sensitive design.”
Fraser owns 5.66% of the company and saw the value of his stake rise by £11 million to £28.9 million in a matter of minutes.
Liberum Capital said that with this hurdle overcome, attention now turns to funding the mine, which is expected to cost £1.7 billion to build.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index enjoyed a rare rise, up 35.87 points to 6556.85, after last week’s fire sale of equities caused by Greece’s debt crisis.
Investors could find bargains this month after a 6.6% fall from the blue-chip index in June.
FTSE 250 oil and gas group Tullow Oil, which has been plagued by failed exploration and lower oil prices, rose 4.6p to 344.3p after it raised its production guidance for the year.
Shares in Topps Tiles dipped 0.75p to 142.6p despite a 5.9% boost in third-quarter underlying sales. The tile specialist’s shares have risen 26% in 2015.
Over-50s insurer Saga, down 1.3p at 218.6p, splashed out £26.26 million in cash for motorbike insurer Bennetts — more than a third of whose business comes from over 50s.
IT security firm Sophos began trading today in London’s biggest-ever software IPO at more than £1 billion. The shares were priced at 225p last week and were changing hands for 238.9p on the first day private investors could buy and sell them.
