A MINING company has confirmed the world's biggest and highest quality supply of a lucrative mineral lies under the North Yorkshire coastline - potentially creating 5,000 jobs.

Independent tests have confirmed an inferred resource of 1.35bn tonnes of high-grade polyhalite, which is mined and processed to create premium quality potash, lie in a coastal area on the North York Moors, stretching out into the North Sea, between Whitby and Scarborough.

York Potash, owned by international mining conglomerate Sirius Minerals, announced the resource statement to the London Stock Exchange today as the company pressed ahead with plans to build a new £1.5bn potash mine on the site.

Potash is used as fertilizer and is in high demand for use in food production around the world.

The plans could create up to 1,000 direct jobs and another 4,000 supply chain jobs, however, concerns have been raised about the potential impact of the plans on the North York Moors National Park.

The minerals estimate indicates the project site contains the largest and among the highest grade deposit of polyhalite in the world.

About 690 million tonnes of polyhalite will give about 50 years of mining and tests by German consultants Ercosplan indicate there is at least three times this amount on the site.

And the company says there could be much more than this as calculations did not take into account historical drilling and geological information.