Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) saw its shares gain 3% today after the FTSE 250-listed firm said it has awarded the contract for drilling the shafts at its polyhalite project in Yorkshire to Polish firm DMC after ending discussions with AMC.
AMC UK had received a ‘notice of award’ in July last year for the contract, with expectations for a finalised agreement to be signed soon after.
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Sirius said today, that due to protracted discussions with AMC over the commercial terms it had started to look elsewhere and decided DMC, part of US$6bn giant KGHM, should carry out the design and build work for all four shafts.
Chris Fraser, Sirius’s chief executive, said DMC had proven, world-leading experience using Herrenknecht SBR technology on deep shafts.
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“We are confident that they can deliver the North Yorkshire polyhalite project shafts significantly earlier than all previous expectations."
DMC has proposed a significantly more efficient and safer shaft sinking solution and the commercial terms and risk sharing contained in the contract are more appropriate alignment of incentives for project partners, the statement said.
In late afternoon trading, Sirus Minerals shares were up 3.1% at 22.84p.
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