PLANS for a billion pound mine have been submitted as York Potash prepares to start construction as soon as any approvals are granted.

Sirius Minerals, the parent company of the York Potash Project, has submitted planning applications for a sunken headed mine at Sneaton, near Whitby, as it looks to extract the plant fertiliser from under the North York Moors National Park in a move set to create 1,000 direct jobs.

The mine application has been submitted alongside an application for a mineral transport system, which will take the potash mineral polyhalite from North Yorkshire to a processing facility in Wilton, near Redcar, via an underground conveyor belt.

The applications have been submitted to the National Park Authority and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, alongside plans for the mineral handling facility which will be determined by the the borough council.

Decision are expected by the end of January 2015, with York Potash progressing its engineering work with the intent to start construction as soon as possible, subject to approval.

In the run up to submitting its applications Sirius Minerals has already secured sale commitments totalling five million tonnes per year of potash from prospective Chinese and South American customers.

Chris Fraser, chief executive of Sirius, said: "We believe we have a compelling planning case that clearly demonstrates that the York Potash Project can deliver exceptional economic benefits, not only locally here in North Yorkshire and in Teesside but also for the wider UK economy.

"We have planned the project with a very high regard for the environment and where possible minimising associated impacts. However, it is now for each authority to determine the applications according to the relevant policies and we keenly await their decisions."

The York Potash project was first revealed in January 2011 as Sirius Minerals began acquiring mineral rights from landowners, before revealing later that year that test drilling in the North York Moors had uncovered the thickest and highest quality seam of potash ever reported in the world.

However the proposals attracted opposition when in September 2012 Sirius Minerals revealed it intended the build the mine on the site of a farm and commercial forestry, in the heart of the national park, with campaigners raising concerns about the impact on the environment.

Sirius Minerals submitted formal planning applications to the National Park's planning authority in February 2013, with a decision due in May, however it was pushed back until July in what later turned out to be the first in a series of delays.

The decision was then deferred until July this year at the request of Sirius Minerals, which then withdrew its application completely.

If the latest application is given the go-ahead Sirius hopes to the have the mine in production in the first half of 2018.