Glencore has announced it will close its Mount Isa Mining operations, threatening the future of around 1200 workers.
The mine will cease operations in 2025 after a review determined the copper mining operation had reached its “end of life”, the global resources company said in a statement released this morning.
Mount Isa Mines’ other metals assets including the copper smelter, George Fisher Mine, zinc-lead concentrator, and lead smelter in Mount Isa, as well as the copper refinery in Townsville, will all continue operating.
There are currently 1200 people working in Mount Isa underground copper mines, copper concentrator and supporting services.
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Chief Operating Officer of Glencore’s Zinc Assets in Australia, Sam Strohmayr, said the future of the jobs is still unclear.
“Our Mount Isa underground copper mines, copper concentrator and supporting services currently employ around 1,200 people,” he said.
“It’s too early to put a figure on how many people may receive redundancies until we work through a process of speaking to each worker and discuss options around retention, redeployment, and retraining.
“Redundancies are the last resort and will be offered only when other options have been exhausted.”
