Jobs will go at Peabody’s Burton coal mine, south west of Mackay in Queensland, with the company announcing last night that it will reduce metallurgical coal production at the mine by approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year.
In a statement the company said, “The Burton Mine is Peabody’s highest unit-cost operation, and production levels are not sustainable in the current market environment.”
It is unknown at this stage exactly how many jobs will be lost as a result of the announcement.
“Following negotiations with the contractor operator (Thiess), production levels are expected to be reduced to approximately 1 million tonnes per year, as the operation targets lower-cost reserves using reduced fleets of equipment,” the statement said.
Peabody also reduced its annual average Australian cost estimate to the low $70 per ton range while raising third quarter financial targets.
The company is reducing 2014 targeted metallurgical coal sales from the Australian platform by 1 million tons to 15 to 16 million tons, with new Australian sales targets of 34 to 36 million tonnes.
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