Britain’s deepest mine is found at Boulby, in between Saltburn-on-Sea and Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast. It is 4,593ft beneath the ground and takes six minutes to descend to the bottom of.
Within the mine, which has been open since 1968, there are more than 620 miles worth of tunnels that have been excavated.
Miners down the pit are looking for potash and salt seams deposited after the evaporation of the ancient Zechstein Sea around 250 million years ago.
However, it’s not just mining that goes on down there. The site is also an underground science hub and has been since the 1990s.
The Boulby Underground Laboratory is around 3068ft beneath the surface and the rock above the lab means that natural cosmic rays are reduced by a factor of a million compared to the outside world.
In these conditions scientists are able to better conduct research. For example, the lab has been used to search for Dark Matter – otherwise known as the ‘missing mass in the universe’ – and is a world-leading facility.
However, scientific research at Boulby now ranges from the search for dark matter to studies of geological studies, climate science and planetary exploration technology development. There is even research looking into life beyond our planet.
The mine, meanwhile, is the world’s only polyhalite mine in the world. Polyhalite is a new organic fertiliser that can increase crop yields and quality for farmers.
According to ICL, who run the mine: “Our exploration geologists have identified and are continuing to discover an abundance of polyhalite reserves, our new multi-nutrient mineral that we have now turned our attention towards.
“Our polyhalite is safe to mine and is present in sufficient quantities to invest in the development of its efficient extraction. So far, we have an estimated 1 billion tonnes of polyhalite resources, some of which we are currently mining, making ICL UK the sole producer of polyhalite worldwide.
“In 2017, we reached a landmark of 1 million tonnes of polyhalite mined at ICL Boulby and we’ve got big plans to come. We’re the only ones mining it globally and with our expertise, we plan to mine 1 million tonnes per year by 2020.”
