A COMPANY building a potash mine has revealed a plan to reward workers.

Sirius Minerals has issued more than 7,000,000 ordinary shares, valued at £0.0025 each.

Bosses say 6,177,280 incremental shares have gone into an employee benefit trust to manage what the business calls long-term incentive (LTI) awards.

They added staff will be rewarded when the company hits milestones in its York Potash project, which aims to extract the fertiliser polyhalite from land near Whitby.

Sirius expects the development to create more than 1,000 direct jobs and support a similar number in the supply chain when it begins operations.

Production is planned to get underway in late 2021.

The firm will move its polyhalite underground from Whitby on a transport system to Wilton, near Redcar, where it will be stored before being delivered to customers from a new harbour.

Formal construction has now started on the development, known as the Woodsmith Mine, after weeks of preparatory work, which has included road improvements.

Earlier this year, The Northern Echo revealed the business plans to start drilling mine shafts this summer, with work earmarked to begin between July and September.

The firm already has a stock of supply agreements in place, including a deal with a US-based firm to annually dispatch 1.5 million tonnes for at least seven years.

It is also speaking to potentially new clients, with crop trials having started in North America, Brazil, China, Africa and Asia.