Global miner Rio Tinto is cutting an unspecified number of jobs at its Clermont coal mine in Queensland, Australia, as it battles thermal coal prices that have fallen nearly 25% this year.
Clermont was only opened in 2010 and shares 770 jobs with the nearby Blair Athol mine, which is due to close soon.
"A review is underway and although the details are to be worked out, it will unfortunately mean redundancies will be required," a Rio spokesman said.
Clermont produced 3Mt of coal in the 6 months to the end of June this year, down from 3.2Mt a year earlier, with Rio's share making up half of that. Its partners are Mitsubishi, J-Power and Japan Coal Development Australia
Clermont has 177Mt of thermal coal and the mine has a mine life of 17 years.