Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has today (19 March) revealed that Teesworks has entered a deal with Woodsmith Project developer Anglo American which will save both millions of pounds.

Anglo American is currently working on the construction of the polyhalite deep mine in North Yorkshire, and its associated infrastructure.

As part of the excavation works, the firm is removing 1.5million tonnes of tunnel boring material from the ground which would usually need disposing of.  But the new agreement with Teesworks allows for it to be used beneficially.

The material will be delivered to the UK’s largest Freeport and be used to help land remediation, landscaping and preparation works, removing the need for such material to be bought in and saving the site £12million in clean-up costs.

The partnership is the latest collaboration between the companies on Teesside. When the Woodsmith Mine is complete, polyhalite will be transported from its site near Whitby via underground conveyors to a materials handling facility in the region before being exported from Teesworks.

Mayor Houchen said: “I’m delighted we’ve been able to come to this agreement that benefits both Teesworks and Anglo American and is a great example of two major companies working together and thinking outside of the box to find answers to their problems.

“Thanks to this deal, we’re not only saving money that can be reinvested elsewhere in the site in the future. We’re also making sure we get the materials we need, when we need them, as work on the site begins to ramp up even further following the announcement of GE Renewable Energy establishing a manufacturing facility here and our successful bid to become the UK’s largest Freeport.

“Both Anglo American and I share the ambition of creating many good-quality, well-paid jobs for decades to come and I’d like to thank it for its commitment to Teesside. I look forward to continuing to work with Anglo American closely on any opportunities that might emerge in the future.”