Switzerland-based mining group Xstrata is planning to close its United Colliery coal mine in Australia's Hunter Valley in March 2010, after the exhaustion of economically recoverable reserves.
Accordingly, more than 60 mine workers will lose their jobs in September when the United Colliery coal mine gradually starts to close down operations.
According to Xstrata, the mine currently produces 3 million mt of semi-soft coking coal per year with a workforce of 174 fulltime employees and 46 contractors. A further 2 million mt of coal remained to be extracted before economically recoverable reserves were depleted.
Xstrata spokesman James Rickards said that the company will carry out a feasibility study on future mining operations in the area.
Meanwhile, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were almost 172,000 people employed in the mining industry in Australia in February this year, compared to about 174,000 in the last quarter of 2008. However, employment levels in the Australian mining sector are reported to have dropped further in the last few months. Mining industry jobs in the country grew by almost 30,000 in 2008.