A spokesman for Rio Tinto's coal division said the Anglo-Australian mining company was looking at ways to reduce costs at the Clermont mine in central Queensland state and improve competitiveness in an environment of significantly lower prices.
"A review is underway and although the details are to be worked out, it will unfortunately mean redundancies will be required," the spokesman said in an emailed reply to questions. "We do not take this decision lightly."
He declined to say whether the review extended to Rio Tinto's other coal operations in Australia or whether jobs might be cut at other mines. The company, one of the world's largest producers of thermal coal, owns or jointly owns a number of mines in Queensland and New South Wales states and elsewhere around the world.
The share prices of mining companies have fallen sharply this year as prices for coal and other commodities have fallen and mining costs have risen, threatening to eat into what were bumper profits last year when prices were buoyed by rapidly growing demand from China and other Asian countries.
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Tom Albanese this week said that global economic conditions and sentiment had dropped markedly in the second quarter of the year, and the company was closely watching the pace of the economic recovery in the U.S., the eurozone debt crisis and efforts to stimulate China's economy.
The Clermont mine was officially opened in 2010 and has been designed to ultimately produce as much as 12.2 million metric tons of coal a year, making it Australia's largest single producer of the fuel. It employs more than 770 workers, according to the company's website.
Rio Tinto produced 8.91 million tons of thermal coal across all its operations in the first six months of the year, up 2% on the same period last year thanks largely to increased production at Clermont that offset the impact of wet weather at a number of Queensland mines, it said this week.
Analysts have speculated that some new coal projects in Australia could be postponed and higher-cost existing mines shuttered because of the fall in the price of coal.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
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