Gina Rinehart's iron ore company flags job losses, reportedly in the hundreds

Gina Rinehart's flagship iron ore company, Hancock Iron Ore, has confirmed job cuts at its Pilbara operations, though the exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed. Multiple industry reports, however, indicate that the figure could be in the hundreds.

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We continuously look at optimising our mine plan.

The company stated that it recently completed its "annual life of mine planning" and is working to optimize its processes. A spokesperson confirmed that the latest iteration of the mine plan extends its operational life by 10 years, maximizing orebody utilization and minimizing waste. This optimization, however, necessitates a reduction in mining activity at the Roy Hill mine, even while maintaining a production rate above 63 million tonnes per annum for the overall Roy Hill system.

Hancock Iron Ore, which merged its Roy Hill and Atlas Iron businesses into a single entity a year ago, is a significant employer in Western Australia. The company has stated it will "work with all affected" by the job losses. While the ABC was unable to independently verify the figure, other media reports have suggested as many as 500 jobs could be cut.

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The result is that we need to reduce our mining activity at the Roy Hill mine while still maintaining our production rate above 63MTPA for the Roy Hill system.

The operation currently produces over 70 million tonnes of ore annually. The job losses come after the consolidation of Atlas Iron and Roy Hill operations under the Hancock Iron Ore banner last year.

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We will work with all affected.