Solid Energy has confirmed 113 jobs will be slashed at its Stockton Mine.
The state-owned company is now working to select staff for the remaining jobs and is expecting the process will be completed the end of June.
Solid Energy has been considering feedback from staff at its Westport mine after announcing earlier this month that staff numbers will be cut from 397 to 246, leaving 113 facing redundancy as there are 38 roles vacant.
On Tuesday, chief executive Dan Clifford said the proposal had been given the green light, although feedback meant the company had made some alterations to the initial plans to improve efficiency.
Solid Energy says the changes are necessary as it cuts production at the mine from 1.4 million tonnes a year to one million tonnes from July, in an attempt to stem its huge losses which have averaged $2.1 million a month this financial year.
Earlier this month, Buller District Mayor Garry Howard told NZ Newswire he felt a sense of relief at the announcement, which had been causing a lot of anxiety while it hung over the small community.
"It could have been a lot worse."
With the proposed changes, annual costs would be reduced by $36 million, although the one-off cost of the changes is expected to be $4.3m, Solid Energy says.
The cuts come as the price of coal falls to US $83 ($110.50) a tonne - much lower than the benchmark price of US $120 mid last year.
Last year 185 jobs went at the mine and Solid Energy previously mothballed its Spring Creek underground mine on the West Coast.
3 News / NZN
source: newshub archive
