SHAREHOLDERS will today decide the fate of a North Yorkshire mining project which has the potential to create about 2,000 jobs.

A crunch vote by Sirius Minerals shareholders will determine whether the cash-strapped mining project should be taken over by Anglo American, the FTSE-100 mining giant.

The two firms agreed the deal in January to provide a lifeline to the struggling North Yorkshire fertiliser mine near Whitby and Teesside processing plant which is building the UK's biggest mining project in a generation.

The Sirius Minerals board said it faced a choice between recommending Anglo American's £405m offer or seeing the financially-troubled project collapse within weeks.

At its peak, the mine is expected to create around 2,000 jobs.

Thousands of private investors have hit out at the 5.5p share offer, with many of them having bought shares at a much higher price. Small shareholders claim they stand to lose large sums of their life savings after investing in Sirius Minerals at higher share prices.

In 2016, shares peaked at more than 45p. Yesterday, Monday, the share price was 4.34p.

It is estimated there are about 85,000 small investors, whose vote will be crucial in deciding the outcome for the company.

Sirius Minerals agreed a £405m takeover deal with global mining giant Anglo American in January.

In the deal, Anglo will pay "a recommended cash offer" of 5.5p per Sirius Minerals share. This values the company at £404.9m. It was once worth more than £1.5bn.

The board of Sirius has recommended the deal.

Anglo has said it could provide a huge boost to the area in terms of jobs and the economy.

Bosses at Sirius said the company would go into liquidation within weeks with huge job losses if it did not go ahead. 

In an earlier statement, Anglo chief executive Mark Cutifani said: “We intend to bring Anglo American’s financial, technical and product marketing resources and capabilities to the development of the project, which of course would be expected to unlock a significant and sustained associated employment and economic stimulus for the local area."

The Press reported in 2011 how Sirius Minerals plc had bought the mining project from York Potash Ltd, which was investigating the technical viability of introducing the first new deep potash mine in Britain for 40 years.

More to follow.