SASKATOON -- Around 265 temporarily laid-off workers at Nurtien's Vanscoy potash mine will be heading back to work at the end of January – at the earliest.

The mine was idled in September along with the potash giant's mines in Allan and Lanigan for what was anticipated to be an eight-week shutdown.

While the Vanscoy mine will remain shuttered, workers will head back to work at the Allan and Lannigan facilities Dec. 29, according to Nutrien spokesperson Will Tigley.

"With Allan and Lanigan returning to operations we will have the network capacity to meet near-term potash demand," Tigley said in an email.

The production downtime at the mines was in response to a short-term slowdown in global potash markets.