LONDON (Reuters) – Sirius Minerals (SXX.L) scrapped a plan to raise $500 million in a bond sale on Tuesday, delaying a project to mine for fertiliser under a national park in northern England and halving the value of its shares.
The company had already suspended the bond issue in August. Sirius blamed market conditions aggravated by uncertainty over Britain’s departure from the European Union for its failure to secure funding.
Sirius said on Tuesday the government had turned down a renewed request for backing in August. The company said it would conduct a six-month review to work out cost savings and would slow development of the project.
“This is the most prudent decision to give the company the time necessary to restructure its plans to move the project forward,” CEO Chris Fraser said, adding that one option was to seek “a major strategic partner”.
The company said 1,200 jobs involved in developing the project would be lost if it failed, but Fraser told a conference call he was confident it could be saved. Sirius’ shares opened more than 60% lower, before recovering slightly to trade down 56% at 4.5 pence at 1342 GMT.
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