Second culling: Anglo American axes coal jobs 

Anglo American is cutting more than 200 jobs across its coal operations in central Queensland and its Brisbane head office, according to the Issac Regional Council.

The company is Australia’s second largest steelmaker, operating five mines across Queensland, including the state’s largest — the Grosvenor underground coal mine.

Anglo American Australia people and corporate relations vice president Ben Mansour says the company has undertaken a comprehensive review of its organisational structure to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business.

“As part of this review, a small number of staff roles across our Brisbane office and operational sites have been impacted,” he said.

“A substantial proportion of reductions have been achieved through voluntary redundancy, and we are committed to supporting our people through this transition with access to outplacement services and wellbeing support.”

Isaac Regional Council Mayor Kelly Vea Vea says between yesterday’s BHP announcement and today’s Anglo American cuts, about 1020 jobs have been affected.

“I don’t think that we should be complacent about what this means for the future of the mining sector and in particular resource communities,” she said.

“This is a huge issue, not just for the viability of the industry. It’s a huge issue for communities.”

Last month, Anglo American announced crews have begun underground inspections for the first stage of re-entry at its Grosvenor coal mine, which has been closed since June last year following an underground explosion.

“For more than a year, we’ve worked to protect the jobs of our Grosvenor workforce — including redeploying roles to our other underground operations,” Mr Mansour said.

“The phased nature of the re-entry work, carried out in close coordination with regulators, means we are now in a position to engage unions and our Grosvenor enterprise agreement workforce in a voluntary redundancy expression of interest process, which is in its very early stages.”

Last week, the London-based company announced a merger with Canadian miner Teck Resources, a deal that serves as part of a major restructure.