A MINING company could move jobs to Amsterdam, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Cleveland Potash, in Boulby, east Cleveland, says bosses are considering plans to switch some back office roles to the Dutch capital.

The changes are being looked at by parent company Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL), which wants to centralise work across its subsidiaries to maintain its global expansion.

The firm said up to 35 roles could be affected in human resources, purchasing and finance posts.

However, a spokesman said it expects any changes to only affect up to 20 per cent of that figure, and hopes to retrain a large number of staff in new roles.

Any decision could take up to two years.

The announcement comes after Cleveland Potash was last week awarded £4.9m by the Government's Regional Growth Fund to support £38m work on mining and processing the fertiliser mineral polyhalite.

The company, which employs about 1,100 workers, said the project will create 125 direct jobs and about 265 supply chain posts.

James Greaves, Cleveland Potash's head of HR, said: “There are about 30 to 35 roles under review, but what it doesn't mean is that 35 jobs are going.

“Some will transfer to Amsterdam but quite a lot will stay here and some workers will be retrained too.

“No decision has been made on any roles.

"Over the next six months we will carry out a review of all jobs and processes to find out which could be done in Amsterdam and which can be done here.

“As a company we are very committed to creating jobs and have taken on more than 250 workers in the last two years.

“This isn't about cost-cutting, but we have to rationalise.

“As ICL grows and brings new companies in, it needs a standardised system that can be used by all efficiently.”

The company says its polyhalite development will allow it to increase mining of the mineral from about 100,000 tonnes a year to up to 600,000 tonnes a year.

The funding will support underground equipment and surface facilities to crush and screen material, as well as upgraded rail and dock operations.