Job losses from the mining sector continue to flow with a major Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) contractor axing some 2,000 employees at the mining giant’s Oyu Tolgoi gold and copper project in Mongolia.
According to Bloomberg, Redpath Mongolia employees working on the underground portion of the mine were given termination notices that cited a decision by Oyu Tolgoi’s board of directors. Ongoing discussions between the two owners of the mine including the Mongolian government, which owns a 34% stake in project and Rio Tinto’s Turquoise Hill Resources, have centred on a disagreement over revenue derived from the mine.
It has prompted Rio to suspend underground work at the $6.6 billion facility until an agreement is reached. However Rio itself has also suggested that job losses are likely within its own ranks as well. “There will be up to 1,700 redundancies for our employees and contractors”, a Rio spokesperson said.
Meanwhile Rio is facing another battle to keep jobs alive in a New South Wales supreme court as it appeals against an environmental court decision to halt extension plans at its Warkworth coal mine. The company has said that regardless of the decision job cuts are likely.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at
via 2000 jobs lost at Rio Tinto’s Mongolian project.
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