A NEW non-executive director has been appointed to the board of the York Potash project as a major new deal is agreed in China.

Sirius Minerals, the parent company of York Potash, has appointed Keith Clarke as a non-executive director to replace the outgoing Sir David Higgins, who is leaving the board having been appointed as chairman of HS2.

The news coincided with an announcement that Sirius has agreed 500,000 tonnes per annum of new sales commitments from a Chinese agricultural business, bringing the total to 4.28m tonnes per annum.