AUSTRALIA MINING COMPANY CUTTING 600 JOBS AS CLOSING ITS IRON ORE OPERATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA Mining company Arrium is cutting almost 600 jobs as it closes one of its iron ore operations in the far north of South Australia. The Southern Iron project is centred in a region south of Coober Pedy. Up to 200 full-time positions will go, along with 380 contractors. The company said the cuts come after falls in the iron ore price of about 45 per cent. Arriums chief executive of mining Greg Waters said the entire company would have been under threat had it not closed the Southern Iron Ore project. He said the drop in the iron ore price made the financial position of the companys mining operations grim. One of the concerns we obviously had was that this could put the entire business in jeopardy, Mr Waters said. The reductions at both the Southern Iron Ore operation as well as supporting mechanisms back in Whyalla were necessary to protect the rest of the business, he said. This significant fall in pricing has put enormous pressure on iron ore mines across Australia, including in the NT and WA. South Australia is not immune. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis Federal local MP Rowan Ramsey said while it was unwelcome news, the reality was Arrium had been dealing with a huge drop in the price of iron ore since they opened the mine. The mining will cease, I would have thought immediately, Mr Ramsey said. We would all hope that the falling iron ore prices is temporary, but its not likely to be temporary for two weeks, he said. Its going to take some time for some of the economies to pick up and start using more steel, so it may be some time. SAs Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the iron ore industry worldwide was adjusting to a collapse in global prices. This significant fall in pricing has put enormous pressure on iron ore mines across Australia, including in the NT and WA. South Australia is not immune, Mr Koutsantonis said. My thoughts are with the affected workers, contractors and their families who are receiving the news. I have spoken directly with Arrium Minings chief executive and expressed my disappointment with the decision. Arrium has indicated it will honour all employee entitlements and look at opportunities for deployment of affected workers, where possible. Job losses to be felt across the region Local Labor MP Eddie Hughes said the closure was not a surprise but any loss of jobs in the region was unwelcome news. Mr Hughes said the outer harbour in Whyalla would be mothballed with iron ore exports out of the area to reduce from 13 million tonnes per year down to nine million tonnes. Were working through the implications at the moment, he said. That will have an impact on contractors here in Whyalla which will feed through the economy and have an impact on retailers and others.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 02:59:12 +0000
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