Animmersion helps bring Anglo American’s Woodsmith Mine to life

Animmersion is continuing its long-standing relationship with Anglo American and the Woodsmith Project following delivery of a new 3D interactive experience designed to highlight the sustainable design and innovative engineering involved in the construction of the UK’s first deep mine in 40 years.

Visitors to the Anglo-American UK website can now take an immersive tour around the Woodsmith Mine near Whitby, which includes a 23-mile-long mineral transport tunnel linking it to processing and port facilities on Teesside.

Working in conjunction with website developer Investis, Middlesbrough-based digital visualisation specialists Animmersion provided the content for the interactive experience.

Once completed the 1,600 metre-deep mine will exploit the world’s largest known, high-grade deposit of polyhalite, which will be sold round the world as a natural, multinutrient fertiliser. The mine, which is almost entirely hidden beneath the surface, is setting new standards in sustainable mining, and the POLY4 fertiliser product will boast one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry, while also boosting food production and supporting sustainable farming practices.

Previously, Animmersion delivered a project to visualise the installation of the first 1,800-tonne tunnel boring machine as well as working on a range of accurate 3D animations of the engineering processes and infrastructure to portray key construction stages.

Steven Rushby, Digital Manager of Crop Nutrients at Anglo American, said: “Animmersion has a long-standing relationship with the Woodsmith Project, which reflects our commitment to developing a local supply chain and ensuring local people and businesses benefit from what we are doing.

“This 3D interactive experience has been nine months in the making and we hope that a wide range of audiences will find it engaging and informative, and that it will become a key communication tool in explaining the unique, innovative and low environmental impact approach we’re taking to develop the mine.

“As a Teesside lad myself, it’s been really rewarding to be able to work with a local company like Animmersion to develop such an innovative, cutting-edge tool.”

Samuel Harrison, managing director of Animmersion UK, said: “We have a long association with the Woodsmith Project, and I’m delighted to continue working with Anglo American to create innovative, engaging, and immersive ways of keeping people informed.

“This is a great example of how we apply our expertise for creating immersive digital experiences to bring complicated subjects to life for diverse audiences.”

To explore the interactive map visit: https://uk.angloamerican.com/the-woodsmith-project