The move will reduce the mine’s workforce to 930 from 1360. Credit: © Glencore

Multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore has decided to downsize its workforce by around 30% at its Hail Creek coal mine in the northern Bowen Basin mining region of central Queensland in Australia.

The proposed move comes after the company undertook a review of its operations, Reuters reported.

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The job cuts will affect around 430 staff and will bring down the number of workers at the mine to 930 from 1360.

Glencore acquired an 82% interest in the Hail Creek mine and adjacent coal resources for $1.7bn from Rio Tinto in March this year and commenced operational management in August. The transaction also included Rio’s 71.2% interest in the Valeria coal resource.

The company will introduce a new roster system that will allow employees at the mine to work for seven days and go on leave for the subsequent seven days.

Furthermore, Glencore is planning to reconfigure the existing mining methods at Hail Creek. The process is expected to be rolled out in phases over the next 18 months and majority of the proposed changes are anticipated to be implemented by the second quarter of next year.

The acquisition of Hail Creek was part of the company’s strategy to strengthen its position as a supplier of metallurgical coal used for steelmaking.

“The job cuts will affect around 430 staff and will bring down the number of workers at the mine to 930 from 1360.”

Last year, production of hard coking and thermal coal from the mine stood at nearly 9.4 million tonnes.

Glencore operates the Hail Creek mine, which is a large scale open cut operation in a joint venture with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal (NSSMC) (8%), Marubeni (6.67%) and Sumitomo (3.33%).

As at 31 December last year, the Hail Creek mine had mineral resources of 601 million tonnes with proven and probable reserves of 142 million tonnes.