Employees at Anglo American’s Drayton mine were today notified that effective 1 July 2014, the site would
be moving from a seven day to a five day roster as a result of NSW planning delays to the Drayton South
project, and some job losses would occur.
Drayton South is a project planned to extend the life of the existing 30-year-old Drayton mine, which is due
to run out of mineable coal reserves next year, keeping 500 local jobs, providing $35 million in State
Royalties annually and contributing $70 million towards local procurement each year.
Drayton mine General Manager Clarence Robertson said with uncertainty still surrounding Drayton South’s
approval, the roster change was an unavoidable step to slow production and extend the life of the existing
mine for as long as possible, but as a result some job losses would occur.
“We are persevering to secure state government approval for Drayton South, but as a result of the
delays with the approvals process we have run out of time to achieve the overlap we needed to keep
the entire workforce employed while we developed the project,” Mr Robertson said.
“Regrettably, with the change in roster we will be reducing the number of crews at site by one and
taking out some equipment, which will mean some job losses and redundancies are likely.
“After all our efforts to coexist with our neighbours and all the compromises and changes we made to
the mine plan, some members of our workforce are now facing unemployment – we cannot afford to
lose any more time on Drayton South or lose any more jobs,” Mr Robertson said.
“Despite the expected redundancies with the roster change, my overall goal is to keep as many people
employed as possible, and minimise the overall impact on people and the community.
“Our priority with Drayton South has been providing ongoing employment for local people. If we receive
approval for this project soon we will keep jobs and hopefully create more for the future.”
Anglo American had been aiming to secure approval for Drayton South in 2013 to provide continued
employment for the existing employees while using the same infrastructure, administration buildings
and mining equipment as Drayton mine.
“We’ve faced more than six months of delays as a result of the prolonged approval process so far and
during this time coal prices have fallen and costs have increased,” Mr Robertson said.
“The Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) report on Drayton South released last December was
another disappointing outcome for us.
“We have lodged our detailed response to the PAC’s conclusions with the Department of Planning, and
we continue our efforts to secure the necessary project approval without further delay.
“For now, the next steps for us will be determining the detail for the roster changes we need to
implement and starting formal consultation with the relevant people.
“We understand this is a difficult time and we are providing our employees with assistance and support.
We will keep everyone updated every step of the way and in the meantime, our focus will be on
maintaining safety at the Drayton operation.
“Despite the challenges we face, we remain committed to Drayton South and securing a strong future
for our employees, their families, local businesses and the community,” Mr Robertson said.
ENDS –