Mincor to lay off 50 workers
UPDATE 3.05pm: Mincor has announced 50 redundancies as part of a restructure of its Kambalda nickel operations in response to a soft price for the commodity.
Managing director David Moore said he deeply regretted the job losses, but that after four years of falling nickel prices, changes were required to safeguard the future of the company.
Mincor said today it would suspend capital development at its Miitel mine, having already halted further development of its Mariners project.
The move would allow the company to maximise operating margins at its existing operations and sharpen its focus on the development of new growth projects at Burnett, Cassini, Voyce and Durkin.
“A key element of the plan is that it is reversible at any time, should the nickel price improve,” the company said in a statement.
Mr Moore said the revised mining plan would optimise cashflows and allow the company to re-build production at both mines in due course, while giving it the scope to complete the drilling and evaluation of four exciting new growth projects.
“Based on our strong ore reserve position and these new discoveries, the future outlook for Mincor remains compelling,” he said.
“Consensus forecasts for the nickel price are very strong and the changes announced today will give us a solid foundation on which to build our next decade of profitable nickel mining in Kambalda.”
Many analysts have tipped a solid recovery in the nickel price despite its recent fall and its current levels, which are at multi-year lows.
Nickel for delivery in three months on the London Metals Exchange rose 1.7 per cent to $US12,930 a tonne this morning. The metal fell 2.2 per cent to $12,710 a tonne on Friday, the lowest since April 23.
Mincor shares were off half a cent to 60.5 cents at the close.
