Boulby starts the year with record production

The year has got off to a flying start at ICL Boulby with the East Cleveland mine, the world’s first and only producer of the multi-nutrient fertiliser polyhalite (marketed as Polysulphate), hitting its best ever production figures.

Production for the first quarter of 2023 totalled almost 259,000 tonnes, topping the previous best of near 252,000 tonnes in the last three months of 2022, an achievement winning high praise from Boulby’s General Manager, Malcolm Mewett.

He explains “Once again this demonstrates that, thanks to the efforts and commitment of everyone involved in our operation and the strong support of our parent ICL Group, we are moving forward strongly in building a firm future for Boulby.

“We have met many challenges in recent years in delivering the transition from potash to polyhalite. This latest achievement builds on our strong performance in 2022, when our production rose by 21 per cent, and demonstrates the increasing importance of our products in meeting the needs of farmers and growers in many different countries.”

Boulby mine, which is the largest employer in East Cleveland, made the switch to polyhalite after over 40 years of potash mining. It is the only commercial source of the mineral which provides a unique combination of sulphur, potassium, magnesium and calcium.