A review by the management team at Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) open cut has been completed and talks are now underway between the mining union and management on the mine's restructure.
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Construction, Forestry Mining, Maritime and Energy Union (CFMMEU) Northern District president Peter Jordan, speaking on ABC radio today, said he expected the job loses from the restructure of the mine to be in the vicinity of 116 workers.
He feared permanent workers would be replaced with casuals.
HVO, a former Rio Tinto operation, was purchased in September 2017 by Yancoal. The Chinese miner had signed an agreement with Glencore to operate the mine as a joint venture.
Glencore owns neighbouring mines to HVO including its Ravensworth open cut.
Under its Rio Tinto ownership the mine employed 1300 workers.
A Glencore spokesman says Hunter Valley Operations has begun consultation with employees and the CFMMEU this week over a proposed restructure at the open cut mine.
The restructure follows a review by the HVO management team now operating the mine on behalf of Yancoal and Glencore.
The review has identified opportunities to reconfigure the operations, reducing the amount of equipment required.
Discussions on the restructure will be open and transparent, involving all HVO areas of operation.
In March this year Yancoal cut 46 crib relief contractors at HVO
The spokesperson said at the time they were reducing their use of contractors at HVO following the removal of the existing crib relief roster.