More than 110 workers will lose their jobs at the West Coast's Stockton Mine.

Solid Energy confirmed it planned to slash 151 jobs from the open-cast coal mine, located north of Westport, at a full staff meeting on Thursday afternoon. The mine already had 38 roles vacant, meaning there would be 113 redundancies. Solid Energy chief executive Dan Clifford said it was "painful" to be back in Westport to announce further job losses less than a year since the last round of redundancies.

"We took quite a large step in reducing our costs on the site," he said, of last year's restructure.

Sarah-Jane O'Connor More than one-quarter of Stockton's 400 staff will go.

"Not only has that been delivered, it's been delivered plus some. "The site is operating cheaper than we planned, more effectively than we planned." He thought there would be sense of relief among the workers that the mine was not being closed. "It is a painful situation. The best thing that we can do in relation to that is stabilise the company as best we can...and keep as many people in employment as we can."

Solid Energy met with several hundred of the mine's workers at Westport's NBS Theatre at 3.30pm and released a public statement just before 4pm confirming there would be redundancies.

It must have felt like deja vu for the workers at Stockton Mine as they filed into a meeting in Westport on Thursday afternoon.

Sarah-Jane O'Connor Skip Kiwi speaks to media outside Westport's NBS Theatre were workers at Stockton Mine were told about a restructure that would mean 113 job losses.

Less than 12 months ago they were in the same spot to hear plans for a restructure which meant 184 workers and contractors were made redundant. Once again they filed out of the meeting clutching envelopes with details about the proposal. They gathered in small clusters with colleagues to talk over what would happen, and what it would mean for them. But it would be at least mid-June before they would know who would stay and who would go. Many refused to talk to media as they left, saying there was nothing to say, or they were still thinking over what they had been told. Mine worker Skip Kiwi said there was no great surprise in the announcement, but he had expected it to be worse. "I guess that's what they need to do for the survival of the company." The mood in the NBS Theatre, where the staff had been called to hear the announcement, was "pretty low," Kiwi said. The job losses would be tough, "especially in a small mining town".

The state-owned enterprise said it planned to reduce production at the mine from 1.4 million tonnes a year to about 1 million tonne from July, and would need to reduce the number of staff jobs from 397 to 246.

Stockton had lost an average of $2.1 million a month over the last financial year and the situation was expected to worsen if changes were not made, Solid Energy's statement said. Buller mayor Garry Howard said the announcement "a big blow" but at least the mine had not been closed. "We sincerely hope that's it," he said of the job losses. "It's not as bad as we were potentially looking at. We're pleased to see it's not mothballed." Coking coal prices had continued to fall since June last year when Solid Energy cut production by a quarter and made 184 workers redundant, leaving just under 400 workers and 40 contractors jobs.

Sarah-Jane O'Connor Stockton Mine axes 151 jobs

Clifford said cost savings and efficiency gains had been made since then, but the efforts had been more than cancelled by a continuing fall in export prices.

"Through our regular face-to-face meetings with the teams at Stockton, staff members have had a good understanding from the last restructure that another change would be needed if the market hadn't started to recover by now," he said. "After the efforts that have been made at Stockton to find more efficiencies, this news will not be welcome, but in this market we simply have to pare back the operation to a size that minimizes those losses while still allowing us to maintain relevance in the international market." Staff had been invited to provide feedback on the proposal before a final decision was made on May 26. The process to select workers for the remaining available jobs was expected to be completed by mid-June. Clifford said the changes could reduce annual costs by $36 million.

There would be a one-off cost of about $4.3m to cover the redundancies payouts and payments for accrued leave.

Solid Energy confirmed it planned to slash 151 jobs

West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor said people would be relieved to know Solid Energy planned to continue operating the mine, but the job losses would hit West Coast communities.

"It's a big percentage of the current workforce and a big percentage of the good incomes that make up the West Coast economy."

The changes would have repercussions beyond the mine, affecting both Lyttelton port and Tranz Rail, which transported coal from the West Coast to Lyttelton, he said.

Sarah-Jane O'Connor A total of 151 jobs will go from Stockton Mine.

He wanted to work with local community leaders and the Government to create alternative job opportunities to keep families in the Buller district.

"It's a big ask to think we could have alternative employment for all these people, but there will be some who have alternative skills.

"We've got to work with existing employers who may be able to take on an extra one or two people, but given the flat economy and the challenges from this restructure we're probably going to have some families leave," O'Connor said.

Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) West Coast organiser Garth Elliott said everyone had been bracing for bad news.

"Since the company got into trouble back in 2011, nearly 900 jobs have been lost at Solid Energy's operations at Stockton, Spring Creek and Huntly East." Speaking ahead of Thursday's meeting, Elliott said it was expected that Solid Energy would be announcing "another round of bad news, and another example of the shabby treatment miners have received from Solid Energy and the Government". For years the high-quality, hard coking coal produced at Stockton could fetch prices above US$300 per tonne. Since 2011 prices have plummeted and are currently sitting at US$84/tonne. Elliott said Solid Energy hit financial trouble after a trail of bad investments, over-estimations of its own value and poor management. Two bail-outs by the Government had failed to bring the company back from the brink. The company would "blame the coal price" for its position, he said. "But the fact is that if the company had had good governance, competent leadership and proper government oversight it would have been in a better position to weather the storm. "The government failed to rein in Solid Energy and it has cost hundreds of jobs and devastated communities. It's simply unjust to once again make miners and their families bear the cost of others' terrible decision-making."

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* Finance Minister Bill English has said he does not know if Solid Energy remains viable.

Prime Minister John Key said a coal price that was expected to stay low for "for quite a period of time" had put "a lot of pressure on Solid Energy's business on the West Coast".

"It's immensely tough on the West Coast. They've had a lot of things to deal with in recent years, obviously Pike River and now generally with mining on the West Coast."

Key said if there was a light at the end of the tunnel it was that unemployment was very low in the South island and was running at about half the national average.

Key said the Government had put in about $200m to try to stabilise Solid Energy.

EPMU assistant national secretary Ged O'Connell said Thursday's announcement did not contain any surprises, as further job losses had been rumoured since Christmas.

"In some ways it's a relief that the mine is going to continue. There had been fears the mine could close or be set up for a sale."

The proposed redundancies were a blow for many families though, who now had their "futures thrown up in the air".

Redundancy payments would normally cover a worker for a short time, but that would be limited if Westport residents were unable to find alternative employment or owned property in town that they could not easily rent or sell, he said.

The West Coast's economy relied on natural resources and industries like mining, timber and tourism, but the Government did not have a regional development policy.

"[The Government's] taken over $600 million in profit out of that region over the last decade. They're good, honest, hard-working people on the West Coast and the Government should use some of their funds to work on regional development," O'Connell said.

Solid Energy also released a proposal for its idled Spring Creek Mine, near Greymouth, which would reduce the mine's maintenance team by six roles.

Mining operations had ended in late 2012, with the site placed into care and maintenance.

Clifford said the company wanted to continue maintaining the site, but believed it could be done safely with a smaller team.

Solid Energy planned to reduce the number of full-time equivalent roles from 14.5 to 8.

Mayor Garry Howard said mine employees faced two months of "high anxiety", Howard said.

"They don't know today if they have or don't have a job. It puts on a lot of psychological pressure."

The redundancies would have a flow-on effect on particularly Westport businesses as people "put away their wallets and spending".

"It will make it difficult in what was already difficult trading circumstances."

The redundancies would also impact KiwiRail and Lyttelton Port of Christchurch.

"It's not just about the Buller district. It's about the wider South Island community."

Howard hoped coal prices might rise.

Mining and farming-dependent Buller needed to look at developing other industries, such as information technology, Howard said.

He wanted to see the government support that.

Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) said the government must step in to help the dumped mine workers and discuss an alternative future for the West Coast that did not rely on a "boom and bust" industry.