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The world’s largest fertilizer company says it plans to reduce production capacity at a potash mine west of Saskatoon later this year, a decision that is expected to result in around 80 job losses.

Nutrien Ltd. said Tuesday morning in a news release that it will cut 20 full-time salaried staff and 60 workers who are paid hourly from its Vanscoy mine in the third quarter of 2019.

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“It kind of comes as a shock. We certainly weren’t expecting it,” said Darrin Kruger, a United Steelworkers staff representative. The affected miners are represented by USW Local 7552.

“More questions than answers at this point,” Kruger said, adding that the miners learned of the layoffs early Tuesday morning and it was not clear who will be affected.

The company, which owns and operates six of the 10 potash mines in Saskatchewan, said the cuts are the result of its decision to lower the mine’s capacity to 1.7 million tonnes per year from 2.2 million tonnes.