A multinational resources company will stop mining activity at multiple precious metal operations in the Northern Territory, causing hundreds of job losses.
Kirkland Lake Gold has decided to suspend test mining and processing at both its Cosmo Gold Mine in Douglas-Daly and Union Reefs Gold Plant in Pine Creek, 224km southeast of Darwin.
250 jobs gone
The decision means 250 staff will be made made redundant and only 30 to 40 employees will stay on to continue exploration and mine rehabilitation work. The proponent is promising to help find a new job for affected mine workers who are expected to finish up at the end of March 2020.
“[The company] highly values the hard work and dedication of its workforce in the Northern Territory and will provide full entitlements and redeployment assistance to employees affected by the decision,” Kirkland Lake said in a public statement. “Opportunities for re-deployment for employees will be explored with the [NT] Minerals Council branch with support from the Territory Government and the company’s human resources department.”
Non-core assets
The remarks came after the company conducted a strategic review that revealed the two gold operations were not the proponent’s main source of revenue when compared to the Fosterville Gold Mine in northern Victoria and its Canadian operations at Detour Lake and Macassa.
“This means we will have to let approximately 250 employees go,” the company said in a letter obtained by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. About 60 per cent of workers live locally.
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The NT Department of Primary Industry and Resources is also promising to help affected employees find a new job.
“The NT Government and the Minerals Council of Australia’s NT branch are setting up a joint task force to create pathways to employment across other sites and similar industries to help keep families of affected employees in the Territory,” the department said according to the broadcaster.
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