PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant BHP Billiton on Wednesday confirmed that about 150 staff would be made redundant at its Mt Arthur coal operations, in the Hunter Valley, by the end of February.

Earlier this year, the miner reduced the staff numbers at its Mt Arthur operation by 258.

BHP in September also announced that it would cut about 700 staff across its Queensland metallurgical coal assets shared with joint venture partner Mitsubishi, with a further 230 jobs cut from the Saraji mine, in Queensland, and 36 redundancies from the Illawarra operation, in New South Wales.

New South Wales coal asset president Peter Sharpe said the changes were required in an effort to reset the operation’s cost base, and followed on from an ongoing review aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of the mine.

“The Australian coal industry continues to experience difficult market conditions, including continuing low coal prices and a strong Australian dollar,” Sharpe said.

“We have made progress at Mt Arthur Coal in our efforts to reset our cost base, but regrettably, an additional 150 roles will be made redundant by the end of February 2015 as a result of further operational efficiencies.”

Sharpe said that BHP would continue to work closely with the affected employees, and added that the company remained a supporter of the Muswellbrook community, including through employing about 1 500 people and supporting local groups and community.

In October this year, the New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission approved a modified extension of the existing Mt Arthur opencut operation.

The extension would see BHP extract an additional 128-million tonnes of run-of-mine coal from the Mt Arthur operation, extending the mine life by four years, to 2026. Mining at the Mt Arthur operation would continue at a steady pace, with the project operating at its currently approved maximum rate of 32-million tonnes a year.

The extension would require a capital investment of some A$66-million, and was expected to generate about A$300-million in royalties for the New South Wales government.