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Woodsmith project plans for the future

14 October, 2025

Woodsmith project plans for the future

The Woodsmith project near Whitby is under construction to access the world’s largest known deposit of polyhalite – a natural mineral fertiliser that will support sustainable farming practices for future generations. The project currently employs 1,100 people with work focused on the progress of the Service Shaft, Mineral Transport System tunnel and market development activity.

As part of the future development plans for the project, a detailed technical review has identified a number of enhancements to the engineering design to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the project for the long-term.

The main amendment is a proposed update to the ventilation system at the mine to ensure a safe working environment. This will result in an increased number of buildings designed to be screened from view.

A public consultation about the amendments is now open in advance of a planning application submission early next year for the Woodsmith, Ladycross Plantation and Lockwood Beck sites.

Matt Parsons, Social Performance Manager, said: “The Woodsmith Project is one of the most innovative mining developments in the world today and we are incredibly proud of the positive impact we have had in the local community since construction began, and we continue to value feedback from our closest neighbours.

“We have worked closely with our local stakeholders, including the National Park, over the years and continue to contribute significantly to the regional economy through jobs and supply chain expenditure. We have focused £31million of social investment on supporting young local people, social economic development and local community projects. The Woodsmith Foundation also continues to support local people and community organisations through its £5million contribution from Anglo American to date.”

Public consultation drop-in events will be held over the next month in Egton, Whitby, Stanghow, Hawsker and Sneaton.
Details of the events can be found here: https://www.woodsmithconsultation.com/have-your-say

Further information about the consultation is available at www.woodsmithconsultation.com

To find out more about the future of fertiliser visit: https://uk.angloamerican.com/futureoffertiliser

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Nina Harding
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)7929 728596

Notes to editors:
Anglo American is a leading global mining company focused on the responsible production of copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients – future-enabling products that are essential for decarbonising the global economy, improving living standards, and food security. Our portfolio of world-class operations and outstanding resource endowments offers value-accretive growth potential across all three businesses, positioning us to deliver into structurally attractive major demand growth trends.

Our integrated approach to sustainability and innovation drives our decision-making across the value chain, from how we discover new resources to how we mine, process, move and market our products to our customers – safely, efficiently and responsibly. Our Sustainable Mining Plan commits us to a series of stretching goals over different time horizons to ensure we contribute to a healthy environment, create thriving communities and build trust as a corporate leader. We work together with our business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources for our shareholders, for the benefit of the communities and countries in which we operate, and for society as a whole. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.

Anglo American is currently implementing a number of major structural changes to unlock the inherent value in its portfolio and thereby accelerate delivery of its strategic priorities of Operational excellence, Portfolio simplification, and Growth. This portfolio transformation will focus Anglo American on its world-class resource asset base in copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients, once the sale of our steelmaking coal and nickel businesses, the demerger of our PGMs business (Anglo American Platinum), and the separation of our iconic diamond business (De Beers) have been completed.

www.angloamerican.com

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