Sirius Minerals : Employee incentive awards & director shareholding

13 May 2016

Sirius Minerals Plc

Employee incentive awards & director shareholding

Sirius Minerals Plc (AIM: SXX, OTCQX: SRUXY) ('Sirius' or the 'Company') announces the creation of two share award schemes, as recommended by the Remuneration Committee ('the Committee').

In recognition of the milestones achieved on approvals, sales progress and the definitive feasibility study completion, the Committee has recommended the granting of short term incentive ('STI') share awards to various employees. In addition to the award of STIs, the Committee has also recommended, and the board of directors ('the Board') has approved, the creation of an employee benefit trust ('EBT') to manage new long term incentive ('LTI') awards for key employees.

The LTIs will vest for relevant employees if the Company meets significant milestones that increase shareholder value, linked to the delivery of its North Yorkshire polyhalite project. The majority of the Company's employees are set to benefit from these schemes as Sirius is committed to ensuring that employee incentives remain aligned to the interests of shareholders. The awards are being made under the Sirius Minerals Plc Shares Based Incentive Plan.

In addition to the newly created STIs and LTIs, the final tranche of shares under the Company's existing long term incentive plan have vested and shares are due to be issued to certain employees ('Existing Awards'). These were the last employee incentive awards issued and were previously announced on 21 March 2013.

The Board has accepted these recommendations and will award a total of 12,649,417 ordinary shares of 0.25p each ('Ordinary Shares') in relation to the STIs, the LTIs and the Existing Awards. Of these shares 4,772,732 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.2 per cent of the Company's new total voting rights, are being issued to the EBT to satisfy potential LTI awards.

As a result of these STI and Existing Awards, Chris Fraser, the Company's CEO and Managing Director will be issued 833,340 Ordinary Shares. Following the issue, Chris Fraser will have a total direct and indirect beneficial interest in 123,747,368 ordinary shares in the Company, representing 5.36 per cent of the Company's new total voting rights. As a result of the proposed LTI awards, Chris Fraser has the potential to have a beneficial interest in a further 1,239,006 ordinary shares if the significant milestones are met.

An application has been made for the 12,649,417 Ordinary Shares, which will rank pari passu with the Company's existing ordinary shares, to be admitted to trading on AIM and trading in such shares is expected to commence at 8am on 16 May 2016.

Following the issue of the Ordinary Shares, the total number of shares in issue and the total number of ordinary shares in the Company with voting rights will be 2,307,394,115. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change of interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

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About Sirius Minerals Plc

Sirius Minerals is the fertilizer development company focused on the development of its North Yorkshire polyhalite project, the United Kingdom. It has the world's largest and highest grade deposit of polyhalite, a multi-nutrient form of potash containing potassium, sulphur, magnesium and calcium. Incorporated in 2003, Sirius Minerals' shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. Its shares are also traded in the United States on the OTCQX through a sponsored ADR facility. Further information on the Company can be found at: www.siriusminerals.com.