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The world’s largest potash mining company says it is preparing to issue 610 temporary pink slips at two mines near Saskatoon in response to weak railway shipment performance.

Nutrien Ltd. initially confirmed it planned to lay off 1,300 miners, but subsequently said “at this time” it will issue 470 notices at its Vanscoy mine and another 140 at its Allan operation. The company said the layoffs are set to begin Friday at Vanscoy and on May 6 at Allan.

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“This is a direct result of railway performance challenges experienced so far this year,” Richard Downey, a spokesman for the company formed this year in the merger of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. and Agrium Inc., wrote in an email.

“If there is a strike at (Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.), this could result in additional mines requiring downtime,” Downey said.

Canadian National Railway Co., however, says it is current on all of its orders, including those for the Saskatoon-based miner. Spokeswoman Kate Fenske acknowledged that January was difficult but said the railway rebounded in February and March.