The company announced last month the mothballing of Angus Place due to a slump in world coal prices and the loss of contracts related to the closure of Wallerawang power station following privatisation.

There were around 260 employees at what had previously been considered the west’s most stable mine.

The Centennial decision took the mining industry and general public totally by surprise.

Following the announcement the company indicated it would be placing up to 100 of the retrenched miners at its Springvale and Clarence Collieries.

It also invited applications for redundancy packages.

And this week there was a mixture of delight and despair within the ranks when the company announced who still had a job and who was out of work.

In a statement issued yesterday Centennial announced the latest state of play following this week’s developments.

General manager External Affairs for Centennial Katie Brassil said the decision to restructure the group’s western region and place Angus Place on care and maintenance had been an extremely difficult one.

“We have been diligently working through a process that has minimised redundancies while sensitively supporting those impacted,” Ms Brassil said.

Voluntary redundancies were opened to all employees at the company’s Clarence and Springvale mines while members of the Angus Place workforce were interviewed individually to determine those seeking redeployment or a redundancy.

In the end while the situation remained extremely disturbing, in the final wash up the termination figure was not as bad as first feared.

On Thursday offers of employment were made to 139 members of the staff and general workforce.

* REDUNDANCY letters were issued to 32, 10 of whom had not sought re-employment.

* SEVENTY seven employees had their termination notices extended to the end of the longwall removal in the first quarter of next year.

Significantly, 30 of these did not apply for redeployment to the other mines.

Ms Brassil said the process meant that from a total Angus Place workforce of 267 there will be a total of 69 retrenchments.

Thirty two of these finished up this week.

The remainder will continue into the first quarter of next year.

She said that while on care and maintenance Angus Place will continue to meet all safety and environmental regulations and will be maintained to enable a re-opening when Springvale reserves are exhausted in around nine years time.

The recommissioning will take place earlier if market conditions improve.

“This difficult decision has been necessary to remain competitive and to secure our longer term future in the western coalfield,” Ms Brassil said.

A retrenchment advisory and outplacement seminar for affected employees will be held at Black Gold cabins at Wallerawang on Monday.