North Queensland mine joint venture brings hundreds of FIFO jobs
IN A MUCH-needed shot in the arm for the state’s mining industry, a joint venture has put out the call for nearly 300 jobs.
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BHP Billiton’s coalmining joint venture has put the call out for 270 jobs for its Peak Downs and Saraji mines.
About 70 of the jobs have gone to locals at Moranbah, and the company has turned to labour hire contractors in Townsville to fill the 200 fly-in, fly-out contract jobs helping to alleviate the trend unemployment rate of about 12 per cent in the city.
The first intake are expected to start within days and the decision is seen as a huge boost for the industry which has suffered the loss of about 20,000 jobs since the peak of the mining boom in 2011.
The new jobs follow a dramatic surge in the price of coal, which had dropped sharply from its highs late last year when it reached about $US310 a tonne. It’s now in the $US170-a-tonne range, which is still almost double what it was around mid-2016.
The jobs are mostly for truck drivers and mobile plant operators and are likely to be for at least six to 12 months, but not permanent.
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the announcement by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance was a welcome relief to regional Queenslanders.
“While jobs have been advertised locally for some time, Townsville is set to benefit due to lack of skilled workers in the area,’’ he said.
He said it was great news for people in the north and the broader Queensland coal sector, which had been struggling through a downturn over the past few years.
‘”This is another sign of green shoots for the Bowen Basin, an area which delivered much of the $1.6 billion boost to royalties for the state government,’ Mr Macfarlane said.
“It follows on from the good news we are seeing right across the Queensland coal industry with record exports last year and new mines opening up.’
Originally published as North Queensland mine joint venture brings hundreds of FIFO jobs
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