Workers were told of their fate at an early morning meeting yesterday.

Electricians, diesel and fixed-plant fitters, operators and administrators are among the 92 workers who will be laid off when the site is effectively shut just after Christmas.

A decision about the fate of another 14 workers will be made on or before the end of January, Hillgrove Mines general manager Scott Jones said yesterday.

“This decision ... is made with sincere regret for its impact on our staff and the community,” Mr Jones said.

He cited a growing gap between the mine’s operating costs and its revenues from antimony as the reasons behind the closure.

Workers were told at the meeting, underground production would shut immediately, while the mine’s processing plant would continue until January 19.

Shocked workers contacted The Armidale Express, annoyed at the timing of the announcement, on the eve of Christmas.

But some workers said they had been expecting the bad news.

“Rumours have been flying around for at least a month,” one worker said.

The mine has had a checkered past.

Bracken Resources bought the mine from Straits Resources two years ago for $30 million.

It had not produced gold or antimony since 2009.

Bracken’s chief executive Roger Jackson said at the time the mine was “a world-class antimony deposit and the largest outside of China”.

Mr Jackson said Bracken Resources would spend up to $12 million making modifications to the Hillgrove plant and $5 million on new mining equipment.

“We’ve got a long-term capital expense of $40-$50 million,” he said in March, 2013.

Yesterday, Mr Jackson said he was no longer chief executive of the mine, however, he was still a shareholder in the company.

In October, the Hillgrove Mines company submitted plans to Armidale Dumaresq Council to expand, with an underground mine at Clarks Gully.

According to an environmental impact statement submitted to council, the mine would extract up to 240,000 tonnes of ore per year over three to four years. 

Mr Jones said the company was still proceeding with that application.

Armidale Dumaresq mayor Herman Beyersdorf said yesterday he was surprised and saddened to hear about the Hillgrove mine’s fate.

“But it’s been one of those stories over the years, with a number of openings and closures,” Mayor Beyersdorf said.

“I am sorry to hear this and my sympathy goes to the workers and their families, especially at this time of year.”