PLANS to build a centre that aimed to make North Yorkshire a world-leader in geosciences innovation have been abandoned.

Sirius Minerals, the company behind York Potash Project, a new mine to extract potash for use in fertiliser from the North York Moors, had been offered a £2.8 million grant towards an innovation and skills centre through the Government’s Regional Growth Fund.

But today it said it had declined the offer because it was a higher priority for the business to accelerate the development of the York Potash Project itself.

The funding for The Sirius Global Centre of Excellence in Applied Innovation in Geoscience would have enabled Sirius to bring a lot of its global research and development activities to North Yorkshire, as well as enabling current and future geoscientists to develop new skills and receive training on cutting-edge, innovative technologies.

It would have partnered with UK and international universities and research organisations to accelerate the latest technological advances in mining and geoscience.

Chris Fraser, managing director and chief executive of Sirius, said they thought they could get a better financial deal from tax incentives for research and development, and the skills they require could be better supplied from other initiatives.

Scarborough Borough Council, for example, has submitted its own application for about £15 million from the Regional Growth Fund to prepare local people and businesses to take advantage of opportunities that will be created through the York Potash Project, as well as other developments in the area including the offshore wind proposals.

He said: "The rapid evolution and development of the York Potash Project has led us to believe we will create greater shareholder value focussing on our singular goal of achieving production from York Potash as soon as possible. The company remains committed to pursuing innovation and skills and will work closely with a range of external bodies to achieve these aims."

The company said that after initial tests, it believed the site contained 1.35 billion tonnes of high grade polyhalite, more than it first expected, which would keep the mine going for well over 50 years. It is expected to create up to 5,000 jobs both directly and indirectly, with 1,500 jobs created alone during the development and construction phase and 1,000 people operating the mine.