Quarterly progress update

§ The project remains on track to deliver first polyhalite and commercial production on time

§ The fully procured and financed capital estimate will be provided to the market once binding financing commitment letters have been executed

§ A supply agreement for Nigeria was signed during the period taking peak aggregate contract volumes from 4.4 Mtpa to 4.7 Mtpa

§ Active engagement on multiple commercial discussions for new supply agreements in Brazil and Europe

§ Initial responses received from banks participating in the stage 2 financing process are positive



Sirius Minerals Plc ("Sirius" or the "Company") provides its latest quarterly progress update. Chris Fraser, Managing Director and CEO of Sirius, commented:

"It has been a quarter of good progress as we continue to construct our Woodsmith Mine, as well as breaking-ground on Teesside. Work to deliver the stage two financing continues at pace and we are delighted to add a new, well established customer, in the high potential African region, to our growing list of partners.

"The economic and social benefits to our nationally significant infrastructure project are vast, as recently illustrated by QUOD's independent economic impact assessment, and we look forward to delivering these important and long-lasting benefits to both national and local economies.

"With commercial momentum and the development of our world-class mine continuing to progress well, we remain confident of delivering on our key milestones for 2018 and ultimately delivering on our vision to be a world-class fertilizer business."

Safety

The project's Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate ("LTIFR") stands at 4.4. The LTIFR is a measure of lost time incidents per million man-hours on a twelve-month rolling average basis. The Company is working closely with its contractors to continually improve the safety culture at all locations.

Sales and Marketing

The Company signed a seven-year supply agreement with Intercontinental Trade DMCC Dubai, a global trading company with an active presence in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, for volumes of POLY4 ramping up to 350,000 tonnes per annum in year four. Taking this agreement into consideration the Company's aggregate peak contracted volumes has increased from 4.4 Mtpa to 4.7 Mtpa.

The Company has undertaken to achieve a target level of circa 6.5 Mtpa of supply agreements in 2018. Sirius' current priority is to conclude agreements in the key markets of Western Europe and Brazil. Commercial discussions are well advanced with multiple customers in each of these regions and the Company is confident of delivering on this milestone. A number of opportunities in other regions of the world are also being progressed.

A total of 56 new crop trials have been initiated during 2018 bringing the total trials to over 320 covering 35 different crops in 23 countries.

Stage 2 financing

The initial bank due diligence process commenced early in the second quarter and has been ongoing with potential lenders reviewing the Company's information package and engaged with their independent consultants. A number of bank responses have been received with further responses due to be received over the coming weeks. The quality of the responses received so far has been positive. Once all responses have been received the Company will progress discussions with both potential lenders and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to finalize the financing. The Company is on track to achieve financial close in 2018.

Procurement

The Company is currently in the process of evaluating proposals for each of the outstanding major scopes of work for the project. These include the materials handling facility, port infrastructure, MTS fit out and drives two and three of the MTS tunnel. The evaluation and optimisation exercise is now ongoing in conjunction with the commercial discussions associated with each package. These processes will continue into the next quarter and feed into the stage 2 financing process.

The opportunity to utilise the Redcar Bulk Terminal continues to be progressed in parallel with the option of developing a greenfield port facility at Bran Sands.

Construction progress

At the Woodsmith Mine site, diaphragm walling activities on the service shaft are complete and have now commenced on the production shaft. The excavation of the service shaft is scheduled to commence in the coming weeks. The initial 120m of the MTS shaft will be sunk using a Herrenknecht Vertical Sinking Machine ("VSM"). Preparation works, such as excavation of the guide collar, are in progress with sinking to commence during the coming quarter.

A ground-breaking ceremony, attended by the Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry MP, was held at the Company's Wilton site on Teesside in late June to mark the commencement of piling work for the MTS tunnel portal. In addition to the portal construction, earthworks for support infrastructure such as power supply and welfare buildings is progressing. Tunnelling activities will commence once the portal construction is sufficiently advanced.

Cost and schedule

The project remains on track to deliver first production and commercial production on time. The Company has now entered the final phase of the procurement process involving cost and risk estimation which involves an iterative process of evaluating contractor scopes of work, commercial risk allocation and contingency requirements. In addition to this, the outcomes of this process are subject to review by the lender's technical consultant as part of the stage 2 financing process. The Company intends to provide the market with an updated estimate including contingency once binding financing commitment letters have been executed. This is anticipated to occur around the end of the third quarter of 2018.

Investor webcast

Sirius Minerals' Chief Executive Officer, Chris Fraser, will host a webcast for investors and analysts at 10.30 am today.

The webcast can be listened to live by clicking on the link below. A replay will be available on the Company's website in due course.



http://event.onlineseminarsolutions.com/wcc/r/1789152-1/AB893348F991B2213A108F28135A4224

RBT materials handling agreement and lease

Sirius signs materials handling agreement and lease with Redcar Bulk Terminal

§ Materials handling agreement signed with Redcar Bulk Terminal Limited to provide port and ship loading services for up to 10 million tonnes per annum

§ Long-term lease of land for storage facilities adjacent to port facilities

§ Arrangements will provide greater flexibility in storage and port operations

§ Reduces construction risk and capital expenditure requirements during the current construction programme which will have stage 2 financing benefits

more.....

Liberum Capital Buy 33.18 60.00 - Reiterates

Berenberg today initiates coverage of Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) with a buy investment rating and price target of 50p.

StockMarketWire.com
Sirius Minerals said it had agreed to supply fertilizer to the Chinese companies Guangzhou Eiliseng Biotech and Yantai Service Agricultural Science and Technology from its Woodsmith Mine in Yorkshire.

The binding take-or-pay agreements both had 10-year terms, running from first production, with pricing 'linked to relevant product benchmarks', the company said.

Eiliseng Biotech and Yantai Service would purchase up to 1.2m tonnes per year and 800,000 tonnes per year, respectively.

The deals pushed the company's aggregate peak contracted take-or-pay sales volumes up to at least 5.7 Mtpa, up from 4.7 Mtpa.

'In China, government enforced changes in agricultural practices and planned farm consolidation will support the drive to restore soil efficiencies through the adoption of more balanced and environmentally sustainable fertilization practices,' Sirius said.

Sirius said its trials had demonstrated the benefits of its POLY4 product as a multi-nutrient fertilizer, with a low environmental impact that delivers greater nutrient uptake.

A 2 year high with decent volume.

It certainly looks promising with a good few saying "buy"

but don't expect instant gratification

Lowest price paid 7.40p over 3 years ago - I can wait :-)

Barchart Opinion

Partnership with Archer Daniels Midland Company

Expanded partnership with Archer Daniels Midland Company

§ Archer Daniels Midland Company ("ADM"), a Fortune 500 US-based agri-business, confirmed as Sirius' North American POLY4 off-take partner

§ Sirius signs agreement with ADM for the supply of starch-based binding agent to be used in the production of Sirius' POLY4 product



Sirius Minerals Plc ("Sirius" or the "Company") announces the signing of an agreement with ADM for the supply of binder for its POLY4 product and names ADM as the Company's North American off-take partner.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM), a Fortune 500 company (currently ranked 48th) is one of the world's largest agricultural processors and food ingredient providers, with approximately 31,000 employees serving customers in more than 170 countries. With a global value chain that includes approximately 500 crop procurement locations, 270 ingredient manufacturing facilities, 44 innovation centers and the world's premier crop transportation network, ADM connects the harvest to the home, making products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses.

Chris Fraser, Managing Director and CEO of Sirius, comments:

"Sirius has been working with ADM for more than four years and today's announcement further strengthens our relationship by securing ADM as an important supplier and as a customer aligning our interests for the long-term and demonstrating the significant role POLY4 will play in the world fertilizer markets."

ADM named as North American customer

more.....

Liberum Capital Buy 36.44 60.00 - Reiterates

What about the prospect of reaching the all time high of about.46 reached about 2 years back ?

Looking a bit "gappy" and over bought?

Arguably a breakaway gap - time will tell.

https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/08/07/1533614400000/Sirius-Minerals--money-for-a-hole-in-the-ground/

Very interesting article on SXX and discussion afterwards. Many different opinions and 'experts'. (You need to be registered with FT to read).

motley fool sell notice dosn't help. profit or in the black 2023 to long for me.
will buy , back in @ 23p BB

Procurement and capital estimate update
§ Design and build contract signed with STRABAG for the remaining mineral transport system drives

§ Materials handling facility EPC contract signed with Jacobs UK Limited

§ Finalising procurement and the associated risk allocations expected to result in stage 2 funding requirement increasing by US$400 - 600m

§ Company to review the most cost effective and efficient sources of capital to fund the additional capital requirement



Sirius Minerals Plc ("Sirius" or the "Company") announces the signing of two major construction contracts and a revised capital estimate for the Company's North Yorkshire Polyhalite Project (the "Project"). The Company has entered into design and build contracts for the construction of Drive 2 and 3 of the Company's mineral transport system ("MTS") and an EPC contract for the construction of the materials handling facility ("MHF") at Wilton. In addition, following the signing of these contracts which substantially completes procurement across the Project, the Company has finalised a revised estimate of the Project's capital cost, funding requirements revised operating costs.

Chris Fraser, Managing Director and CEO of Sirius, commented:
"The signing of the contracts for the remaining tunnel drives and the materials handling facility at Wilton are significant steps forward for the business with almost all procurement now complete. The expected increased funding requirement coming from this process reflects an optimisation of the MTS tunnel design and a significantly improved risk allocation for Sirius to support the senior debt financing. The Project's economics remain extremely compelling and we are confident they support the expected additional funding requirement."

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=6117306