35-558: Boulby Mine is a 200-hectare (490-acre) site located just south-east of the village of Boulby , on the north-east coast of the North York Moors in Loftus, North Yorkshire England. It is run by Cleveland Potash Limited , which is now a subsidiary of Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL). In early 2016, polyhalite mining commenced. Polyhalite is a natural multi-nutrient fertiliser providing a source of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. It
70-530: A Neolithic site near the Boulby Cliffs. Researchers revealed three salt-making kilns and fragments of dozens of ceramic bowls used in the process. According to Dr Stephen Sherlock, this discovery plays an important role in understanding aspects of the Neolithic agricultural economy. As there is no local source of rock salt , it is probable that the salt was produced by evaporation or sea water. Just north of
105-519: A cheaper method was developed soon after the boom in alum mining. The ruined remnants of the mines can still be seen from the cliff top when walking the Cleveland Way between Staithes and Skinningrove . To the north-west of the village is Boulby Quarries a Site of Special Scientific Interest designated due to its geological interest. Boulby is also home to Cleveland Potash at Boulby mine - Europe's second-deepest mine, where potash and rock salt
140-461: A network of underground roads extending under the North Sea , totalling 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) in length. Due to the mine's depth it takes workers seven minutes travelling in a lift to reach the bottom of the mine. Cleveland Potash Limited had a reported turnover of £194 million in 2013, up from £162 million the year before. However, despite the increased turnover, the company suffered
175-456: A proposal to close the line in September 1957; the line's operating costs exceeded its revenue generation, closure would result in a yearly saving of £10,950 operating costs and avoid £57,000 (equivalent to £1,740,000 in 2023) of structural maintenance (over five years) required on tunnels and viaducts particularly between Sandsend and Kettleness. With dwindling passengers after the war years,
210-534: A rare mineral that has been found in large quantities in a seam out to sea from the mine, with total resources estimated at over a billion tonnes lying more than 0.93 miles (1.5 km) offshore. The mineral has a commercial potential as an inorganic fertiliser. In April 2014, Cleveland Potash was awarded a £4.9 million government grant to support the mining of polyhalite at the Boulby site and parent company Israel Chemicals Ltd has pledged to invest £300 million in
245-469: A salt-rich environment. The site is also used for testing NASA Mars rovers . In October 2017, the European Space Agency (ESA) sent astronaut Matthias Maurer as part of the fifth Mine Analogue Research sortie. It is thought that the brines present in the mine may be able to support extremophiles, and be like similar sites in caves on other planets. Extant testing and recording programmes at
280-552: A total pre-tax loss of £194 million. This was the result of a huge £200 million impairment charge arising from a significant fall in potash prices. In the 2017–18 financial year, the company made £92 million, down from £205 million from the previous financial year. During the same period they also incurred losses of £162 million due to an investment in ICL Iberia a sister company. Taking into account redundancies, impairment of assets and disposal of unrequired assets,
315-594: Is a hamlet in the Loftus parish, located within the North York Moors National Park . It is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland , North Yorkshire , England. The hamlet is located off the A174 , near Easington and 1-mile (1.6 km) west of Staithes . It was in the North Riding of Yorkshire until 1974, followed by the county of Cleveland until 1996. The village formerly had alum mining activity and
350-569: Is currently the site of Boulby mine , a 200-hectare (490-acre) site by Cleveland Potash Limited which produces half of the UK's potash output. Boulby is an old Scandinavian place name meaning "Bolli's Farm" , constructed from the male personal name Bolli + -by, an Old Scandinavian element meaning "farmstead, village or settlement". Examples of Bolli from the 10th century are the Norse Bolli Thorleiksson and his son Bolli Bollason from
385-428: Is extracted as a by-product and used across the region as a de-icing agent on roads in winter conditions. Other minerals are produced as waste ( gangue ) to the main effort, but may be sought after by mineral collectors, such as boracite , which occurs just above the beds of potash. In 1939, potash was discovered in the area at Aislaby when prospectors were drilling to look for oil. The reserves were investigated in
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#1733084670275420-570: Is marketed as Polysulphate by ICL and is sold in 3 grades: granular, mini-granular and standard. As well as producing Polysulphate, a granulated blend of potash and Polysulphate is sold as PotashPluS – part of ICL's wider FertiliserPluS product spectrum. It originally produced half of the United Kingdom's output of potash , an agricultural fertiliser. The mined ore consists of 35–45% sylvite ("potash", specifically potassium chloride) and 45–55% halite (rock salt, or sodium chloride). The rock salt
455-651: Is mined 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) underground. The mine is also the site of the Boulby Underground Laboratory . Boulby used to be served by the Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (WRMU) which ran along the coastline to Whitby Town station where it met the Scarborough & Whitby Railway . However the WRMU was closed in 1958. Today the railway line from Saltburn has been reopened for goods as far as
490-408: Is transported by rail, as the site is located south of Loftus along the route of the former WRMU ( Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway ), which was closed on 5 May 1958. The line remains open from Saltburn to Boulby for goods traffic. Teesport handles most of the bulk cargo export from the mine, via a specific potash and rock salt terminal. Because of its depth, Boulby Mine is the site of
525-525: The Boulby Underground Laboratory 3,600 feet (1,100 m) below the surface (2800 metre water equivalent ). Part of the laboratory is called Palmer Lab (subterranean) and the laboratory's surface facilities are sometimes called the John Barton surface facility . Work being carried out at the underground laboratory includes the UK Centre for Astrobiology study of extremophile organisms that can survive in
560-563: The Icelandic Sagas , although neither were recorded as coming to England. The large number of villages and farmsteads containing a personal name and -by are believed to have been settled by Scandinavian conquerors breaking up the English church and secular estates from the late 9th century. There are high density pockets in parts of Yorkshire corresponding to the Norse Kingdom of Jorvik and
595-429: The 1950s but appeared too deep to exploit economically. Solution mining was considered from 1962, but not pursued. The first shaft was begun in 1968 and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) began construction on the mine in 1969, with potash from one shaft being produced in 1973. Full production of the mine did not commence until 1976. The mine was the source of all of the UK's home-produced potash – around 55 percent of
630-657: The 1970s. Whitby had been connected to the national rail system by the Whitby and Pickering Railway since the 1830s. Loftus was connected to the rail system by the 1870s via an extension of the Cleveland Railway : both the Cleveland Railway and the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway were constructed in the 1860s connecting Middlesbrough to Guisborough. The 16 miles 66 chains (27.1 km) extension of
665-547: The Yorkshire coast to the Esk at Whitby , and connecting Middlesbrough to Whitby along the coast. For much of its journey the line hugged the cliffs, and had a troubled build due to the proximity to the sea and poor quality of the construction on many of its original bridges and viaducts. The line was closed to passengers in May 1958, but the northern section to Boulby Potash Mine re-opened in
700-488: The area before 2018. Plans include extending the mine to the east and upgrading facilities to increase production capacity. Environmental groups have raised concerns that the development could have an intrusive effect on the local area. The mine had 1,001 employees in 2013 and can produce up to one million tonnes of potash each year. At 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) deep, it is the second deepest mine of any kind in Europe, and has
735-497: The arms of the Conyers. The family were sole proprietors until about 1664, when Nicholas Conyers passed the estate to the sons of his second wife, who all died without male heirs. Nicholas Conyers kept possession of the alum works at Boulby, which was founded in 1615. By 1890 Boulby was described as a "straggling and ruinous village". In March 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of an almost 6,000 year-old salt-making complex at
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#1733084670275770-491: The centre. Part of the proposed line was dangerously close to the cliff edge and was abandoned by the NER which took a route further inland through Sandsend and Kettleness tunnels. The line had gradients, heavily engineered sections (bridges, tunnels), and sea-frets to contend with, and as such, line speeds were imposed. Even so, it was quicker to travel on the railway from Middlesbrough and Stockton to Scarborough than by road. The line
805-400: The conquest. Some time afterwards Boulby, along with Easington , passed to the de Brus family , Lords of Skelton . The estate of Easington and Boulby came to a branch of the family of Conyers by the mid-15th century, who for several generations, were seated at mansion at Boulby. By the early 19th century the mansion was converted into a farm house, which over the door on a square stone bore
840-513: The laboratory include: There are also concurrent geological and geoscience projects ongoing. Previous, now completed experiments include: Proposed experiments (as of 2019) include the WATCHMAN (WATer CHerenkov Monitoring of ANtineutrinos, also called AIT/WATCHMAN) neutrino experiment, which would study antineutrinos originating from Hartlepool nuclear power plant. This project would aim to develop technologies to remotely monitor nuclear reactors for
875-428: The lease in 1875. John Waddell won the contract, and the line was scheduled to open on 13 July 1881, but due to the extra work required to bring it up to standard, it was a further two and a half years before the line was opened on 3 December 1883. Many bridges were defective and piers did not sit vertically correct. The original tunnels were out of line so that when boring was done from either end they did not meet in
910-491: The line from Loftus to Whitby Town railway station, was authorised by an act of Parliament, the Whitby, Redcar, and Middlesborough Union Railway Act 1866 ( 29 & 30 Vict. c. cxcv) in 1866, with the majority of construction carried out under John Dickson between 1871 and 1886. Due to a lack of funds and problems with the contractor work was suspended on the route until the NER took up
945-452: The line, viaducts were sold for scrap metal and concrete was used in the construction of sea defences. In 1973, a 4.5 miles (7.2 km) section of the line at the northern end, was re-opened after Cleveland Potash Ltd developed Boulby potash mine next to the former route, north of the village of Boulby in Redcar and Cleveland . This section of the line remains open as a freight line , but
980-400: The loss was adjusted to £38 million. By the end of 2018, the company had 470 employees after a round of job cuts related to the switch from mining potash to polyhalite. In 2018, the company was producing just over 450,000 tonnes (500,000 tons) of polyhalite with ambitions to more than double that amount to over 1,000,000 tonnes (1,100,000 tons) by 2020. Much of the output from the mine
1015-584: The mine, and is used for the transportation of potash and rock salt. [REDACTED] Media related to Boulby at Wikimedia Commons Anticlockwise Skinningrove Boulby Clockwise Staithes Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway (WRMU), a.k.a. the Whitby–Loftus Line , was a railway line in North Yorkshire , England, built between 1871 and 1886, running from Loftus on
1050-513: The purpose of nuclear non-proliferation. Since the year 2000, there have been several incidents at the mine. Cleveland Potash Limited has been served with 11 notices for breaches of health and safety procedures by the Health and Safety Executive since 2012. They include not taking appropriate measures to protect workers from the risks of explosion, falling ground and inadvertent entry into the mine shaft. Other incidents include; Boulby Boulby
1085-402: The route was only popular during summer weekends and closed on 5 May 1958. Whitby West Cliff station remained open for another three years, serving trains from Whitby to Scarborough until it closed on 12 June 1961, after which Scarborough trains had to reverse at Prospect Hill Junction where the line from Whitby Town met those from Scarborough and Loftus. In 1960, work began to dismantle
Boulby Mine - Misplaced Pages Continue
1120-563: The subsequent Anglo-Danish Earldom of Northumbria from 954. In the Domesday Book of 1086, Boulby is given as Bolebi or Bollebi , and appears within the soke of Loftus , held in the William the Conqueror ’s time by High d'Avranches , Earl of Chester . It states "In Bolebi, Chiluert had 1 carucate of land, sufficient for 1 plough, valued at 8 shillings." Chiluert held the manor before
1155-453: The total UK market. It occurs between 1.2 and 1.5 km (0.75 and 0.93 mi) below ground and has an average seam thickness of 7 m (23 ft). The mine did not achieve profitability until 1984. ICI formed Cleveland Potash Limited jointly with Anglo American , and later sold it to them, which in turn divested it to Israel Chemicals Ltd in 2002. In April 2011, the mine began the world's first commercial production of polyhalite ,
1190-478: The village are some of the highest cliffs in England, at 203 metres (666 ft) above sea level. Boulby Cliff was mined for alum and in A Picturesque History of Yorkshire (1901) the face of the headland is described as being "dotted" with alum-works and miners cottages. This mineral was used as a mordant to improve the strength and permanency of colour when dyeing cloth. This mining was relatively short lived as
1225-577: Was single track throughout, but all stations, bar Sandsend , had passing loops. The section ran from Whitby to Loftus, where it joined the NER Middlesbrough – Loftus route head on. From the beginning the line was run by the NER, which held the lease and ran services to Whitby along the Esk Valley Line and the Malton – Whitby Line. The NER took over the line fully in 1889. British Railways published
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