Scores of jobs are set to go after BHP decided to \u201csignificantly scale back\u201d activity at an iron ore mine that employs about 800 people and is a key union target, according to multiple sources.<\/p>\n
Senior managers at BHP\u2019s Yandi iron ore operation in the Pilbara are believed to have told workers on Tuesday morning that the ageing mine\u2019s workforce will be substantially reduced over the coming months.<\/p>\n
The site employs about 600 direct workers and up to 200 contractors, the latter mainly via ESS who run the catering and accommodation on site.<\/p>\n
A BHP spokesman confirmed the changes at Yandi.<\/p>\n
\u201cYandi\u2019s production profile has steadily ramped down in recent years, and we now need to adjust the mine plan to meet current and future operational requirements,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnsuring our teams are safe, informed and supported throughout the process is our number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is unclear how many jobs will be lost, with some workers set to be redeployed at BHP\u2019s other WA iron ore mines.<\/p>\n
BHP first flagged Yandi\u2019s wind-down in 2017 but strong demand for the mine\u2019s low-impurity iron ore led to multiple life-of-mine extensions.<\/p>\n
In August, the Fair Work Commission paved the way for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Electrical Workers Union to seek a majority-support collective bargaining agreement for about 180 maintenance workers at the mine.<\/p>\n
Unions, which have been emboldened by the Albanese Government\u2019s sweeping changes to industrial relations laws, have been ramping up their efforts in recent years to infiltrate BHP and Rio Tinto\u2019s lucrative Pilbara iron ore mines.<\/p>\n
The West Australian understands the scaling back of Yandi will not impact BHP\u2019s WA iron ore production guidance for the 2026 financial year.<\/p>\n
BHP has pencilled in iron ore production of between 284 million tonnes and 296 million tonnes for the financial year.<\/p>\n
Yandi\u2019s depleting tonnes have been progressively substituted by the ramp up of the massive South Flank operation to nameplate capacity and the planned Ministers North deposit, which is located approximately 13 km from the existing Yandi iron ore mine.<\/p>\n
Development of Ministers North is subject to a potential final investment decision by June next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scores of jobs are set to go after BHP decided to \u201csignificantly scale back\u201d activity at an iron…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,6827,44,45],"class_list":["post-248688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-mining","tag-news","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}