Sirius Minerals signs shaft sinking contract with DMC

DMC Mining Services UK Ltd and DMC Mining Services Ltd are both subsidiaries of KGHM Polska Miedz SA. In the statement, Sirius claims that it has been in extended discussions with AMC UK Ltd in respect of finalising the shaft sinking contract following the ‘notice of award’ in July last year, which anticipated the signing of a finalised contract shortly after. Because of protracted discussions with AMC regarding commercial arrangements, Sirius opted to engage with DMC and other shaft sinking companies in parallel to consider alternatives.

Sirius claims that, through this process, it has become clear that DMC is a strong partner, and will bring technical opportunities and a commercial partnership that can unlock potential savings in the construction schedule. Sirius has therefore entered into a design and build contract with DMC and has terminated ongoing arrangements it had for the shafts with AMC.

The Managing Director and CEO of Sirius, Chris Fraser, said: “Sirius continually seeks opportunities to use innovations and a commercial approach to accelerate development and unlock value. DMC has proven, world leading experience using Herrenknecht SBR technology on deep shafts and represents a strong partner, commercially aligned to our success. We are confident that they can deliver the North Yorkshire polyhalite project shafts significantly earlier than all previous expectations and we look forward to working with the team.”

The Managing Director of DMC, Graham Buttenshaw, added: “We are excited to be partnering with Sirius on this world-class project and are confident of leveraging our leading technology and experience to accelerate development of the mine and enable Sirius to bring its sustainable multi-nutrient fertilisers to the market earlier than previously planned.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/project-news/05032018/sirius-minerals-signs-shaft-sinking-contract-with-dmc/