BUZZ-Sirius Minerals: down on York Potash project approval delay

** The potash miner's shares fall as much as 13 pct on Thursday morning on delay of decision by British authorities to let Sirius mine polyhalite beneath a North Yorkshire national park.

** Co said in Sept. 2014 that it expected authorities to make a decision by end of Jan. 2015. Co has been struggling to get approval from the North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA) and the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC) for over 18 months.

** Co said NYMNPA's decision would "likely" be made in May and RCBC had not indicated a decision time frame at all.

** But WH Ireland analyst Paul Smith maintains 'buy' rating on stock and 37 pence PT, saying sees this as "a temporary setback".

** "This is obviously a disappointment for Sirius, but given the huge amount of reports, data and consultations gathered by the company, is perhaps not unexpected," Smith says.

** Stock pared some early losses, trading down 10 pct but still the second-biggest loser on the FTSE AIM Basic Resources index (rm://richa.naidu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)