The low price of iron ore has claimed another victim, with Sinosteel Midwest to shut its Blue Hills mine.
110 people will lose their jobs as part of the closure, including 50 workers from mining contractor MACA.
Sinosteel said low iron prices and lengthy delays in obtaining environmental approvals for the expansion of the Blue Hill mines had led to the decision to shut the operation.
“Operations and corporate staff are likely to be progressively made redundant in line with operational requirements,” the company said.
MACA said the Blue Hills contract had generated the company approximately $3.5 million per month.
As a consequence of the suspension MACA advised that its full year revenue guidance for the 2015 financial year will remain approximately $600 million. However MACA said its work in hand position will reduce by approximately $30 million.