Job cuts at WA nickel miner First Quantum in Ravensthorpe

The torrent of cheap nickel from Indonesia has claimed more Australian jobs with Canadian miner First Quantum set to put its Ravensthorpe mine in WA into care and maintenance on Wednesday.

About 330 workers got just two days notice of the move that will see all production end by late May.

In a statement the company said it appreciated recent WA government financial relief to the embattled sector, but it would not have altered today’s decision.

“Despite RNO’s best efforts to maintain operations by transitioning to a new operating strategy that involved ceasing mining activities, processing stockpiles and altering its approach to production, the site is incurring significant current and projected losses,” it said.

The $17 billon company said about 330 employees would be made redundant and it acknowledged the significant impact on them and their families.

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The Ravensthorpe nickel operation is the largest employer in Ravensthorpe and nearby Hopetoun. The towns suffered when BHP shuttered the operation in 2009 after just a year of operation.

While the price for the metal primarily used to make stainless steel and increasingly in batteries has recovered in recent weeks it has not been enough to Ravensthorpe.

More to come.