Let's get Sirius

Five years ago, the Investors Chronicle tips pages conducted an unusual experiment. Divided on the prospects for the then unfunded, unpermitted and untested Sirius Minerals (SXX), our writing team simultaneously put forward the ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ cases for the Yorkshire-based prospective potash miner. The articles, penned with Sirius shares at 21.5p, provoked some applause and a fair amount of reader opprobrium. For much of the time since, this has remained our position: wary of the enormous upfront costs, possible shareholder dilution and long lead time until production, we have largely sat on the fence. But with permits in place, stage one financing complete, forward sales contracts agreed and development under way we now view Sirius’s polyhalite mine as a much more investible proposition. And while the shares are essentially flat on our previous tips, there are good reasons to think the stock will rise over the next five years.