BALMAT — Miners who will lose their jobs at Gouverneur Talc will be eligible to receive federal benefits through the Department of Labor's Trade Adjustment Assistance program.

The benefits are available only to workers who are negatively affected by competition from abroad and include cash payments, job training and job-search allowances.

"Words cannot express how thankful I am on behalf of United Steelworkers Local 4979," Steven Weldon, president of United Steelworkers Local 4979, said in a statement. "This assistance will provide critically needed funding and help to our workers."

The announcement came Wednesday from Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor.

Company owner R.T. Vanderbilt, Norwalk, Conn., said in January that it would stop mining two talc products and lay off approximately 75 percent of the company's 106 employees.

One of the biggest benefits of the TAA program is its extension of payments beyond the traditional 26 weeks of unemployment insurance. Weekly cash payments can continue for 52 weeks after unemployment ends.

Workers have to be in a training program or classroom to receive the benefits, said Raymond H. Fountain, St. Lawrence County economic development director.

"It only reimburses for the time you're in training," he said. "Our counselors have to be very careful about educating people."

The county's One Stop Career Center in Canton has been meeting with workers to help them plan their futures.

Benefits through the One Stop Career Center and TAA include training for another career, job search allowances to cover expenses in seeking a job outside a worker's normal commuting area, relocation allowances, job-search assistance and a health coverage tax credit.

The Department of Labor reviewed a petition requesting TAA filed by the union local and found import competition contributed to the downsizing of Gouverneur Talc.