QCoal shutters Cook Colliery mine, 70 jobs affected
Dozens of Queensland mine workers have lost their jobs just weeks before Christmas as low prices and high production costs are blamed for shutting down a Bowen Basin operation.
Another Queensland coal mine is set to close, with the operator blaming low coal prices and high production costs for 70 job losses.
QCoal ceased operations on Friday at its last production unit at the Cook Colliery underground mine near Blackwater in Queensland’s Bowen Basin, following the first closure in September.
The mine employed 170 workers prior to September, when it shut down one unit costing 80 jobs. It was one of three mines to be either mothballed or trimmed down in a three-day period.
A QCoal spokesman said the ongoing operation was “unsustainable”, and pointed to Queensland’s coal royalty regime.
“Unfortunately Cook Colliery has been adversely affected by high production costs and low coal prices.
“The current royalty regime in Queensland also makes it very difficult to justify the continued operation of loss-making mines.”
It comes just days after mining bosses delivered a stark warning that there would be more job losses in the regions amid dire economic headwinds.
QCoal said Cook Colliery contributed $25 million in royalties to the Queensland Government since its March 2022 reopening, despite never making a profit in that time.
Cook Colliery was previously mothballed in 2019, before it was bought up and restarted by QCoal.
The company’s website describes the mine as a “testament to the region’s enduring legacy in coal mining”.
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Originally published as QCoal shutters Cook Colliery mine, 70 jobs affected
