A pair of PotashCorp mines near Saskatoon will be temporarily shut down over the winter to allow the company to adjust its inventory.
The company announced Wednesday that temporary layoffs would be issued to workers at its Allan and Lanigan facilities.
The Allan mine is due to go offline for 10 weeks starting Nov. 19. The Lanigan mine will shut down for 8 weeks starting Dec. 3.
PotashCorp spokesperson Randy Burton said the shutdowns were necessary to keep production in line with demand from customers.
He said the Lanigan and Allan mines were chosen for shutdowns as they are older facilities that produce potash at a higher cost per tonne than the company’s recently expanded facility at Rocanville, which will remain in operation.
Burton said the company is still in the process of determining how many workers will be laid off during the shutdowns, as some will be kept on to oversee maintenance and keep critical systems running.
Burton stressed that all laid-off workers would be back on the job once the shutdown periods end.
“It will be back, and business as usual when we resume,” he said.
—with files from Chris Vandenbreekel