Anxious wait begins for Sirius Minerals

As expected, Sirius Minerals has handed local authorities planning applications both for its York potash mine and mineral transport system and a materials handling facility. We'll get a decision from the North York Moors National Park Authority and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in four months. This is make or break time for Sirius.

"We have planned the project with a very high regard for the environment and where possible minimising associated impacts," said managing director and chief executive Chris Fraser. "However, it is now for each authority to determine the applications according to the relevant policies and we keenly await their decisions."

Recent updates have been positive and should give support to the applications. Crop trials using POLY4 - created from polyhalite, a potash mineral found at the company's huge potash deposit in North Yorkshire, the largest and highest-grade polyhalite deposit in the world - have been hugely positive. Cabbage yield and growth were much better than other fertilisers.

Sirius is also in the pre-application stage for the Harbour Facilities located at Bran Sands, Teeside, with an application expected to be submitted in December.

WH Ireland still reckons Sirius will one day be worth 37p, although that's a long way from the current price at just under 14p. And that's about as much as investors seem willing to pay ahead of the decision, especially after initial applications were rejected last year.

"Permitting is the key risk to Sirius' ambition to become a large polyhalite miner," says WH Ireland. "We anticipate a positive process as the project will bring many benefits to the local area and Sirius has gone out of its way to allay any concerns there may have been about the plan on the local environment and its impact on the North York Moors National Park. Sirius intends to begin construction immediately following an anticipated positive outcome in the early part of 2015," the broker added, retaining its 'buy' recommendation.

Numis Securities is less bullish. "This still looks like a long haul of permitting for Sirius to meet its target for construction in 2015 and first production in 2018."

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.