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Nutrien Ltd. announced on Wednesday morning that its Vanscoy potash mine will lose 30 staff and 50 hourly positions, which will take effect in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Later in the day, the company increased its earnings forecast for the year.

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The changes are meant to make the Vanscoy operations more efficient as it looks for synergies following the merger of Potash Corp. and Agrium Inc. to form Nutrien at the start of the year, the company said.

Nutrien said in its second-quarter results out Wednesday that it had achieved US$246 million in synergies as of the end of June, up from the US$150 million it said it had achieved as of March.

The company said it now expects to achieve cost savings of US$350 million by the end of the year, up from the US$250 million it initially estimated. The company is targeting eventual ongoing cost savings of US$500 million.

Increased sales expectations for its key fertilizers had the company revise its adjusted earnings guidance to $2.40 to $2.70 per share, up from $2.20 to $2.60 per share.