THE firm behind Europe’s second deepest mine has lodged a proposal to celebrate the area’s heritage and mark its 50th year below a national park and the North Sea.

Israeli Chemicals Ltd is asking the North York Moors National Park Authority for permission to site a unique galvanized stainless steel sculpture at a spectacular viewpoint beside the Cleveland Way close to Boulby Mine, near Staithes.

The laser cut artwork by local sculptors Katie Ventress and William Harling will represent an underground bait table and a miner carrying the type of equipment which would have been in used in 1970, when contracts were signed to begin operations there, although full production of the mine did not commence until 1976.

The bench will include a wide range of facts about the mine and the table top will show the mine’s underground workings; indicating where the bench is positioned in relation to the scale of the mine’s operations.

The 1,400m deep mine has a network of underground roads stretching some 1,000km, includes an underground laboratory for the UK Centre for Astrobiology study of extremophile organisms that can survive in a salt-rich environment and has also been used for testing NASA Mars rovers.

The planning documents state the artwork will aim to consolidate the history of the mining operations into a piece that will be both educational and celebrate the area’s heritage, such as alum mining.

Despite the site’s highly protected status in the national park, and in a very prominent position, the industrial development gained planning permission, partly as the area had high unemployment following the closure of iron ore mines.

Alongside the sculpture will be seats where it is hoped miners past, present and future, as well as members of the public, will take their families for a walk, a picnic or photo beside the sculpture.

The restrictions being enforced at present has caused one or two unusual difficulties for the artist.

Katie, whose studio is at Hinderwell, near Whitby, said: “Ideally I would have liked to have used a miner as a model for the piece but social distancing put a stop to that.

“Instead I’ve had to use my partner and he’s got a bit fed up of me staring at him from time to time or asking if I can measure his nose.”