UKRAINIAN-OWNED Consolidated Minerals (ConsMin) has joined a growing list of mining companies that have been forced to sack staff as the global financial crisis deepens.
ConsMin general manager corporate affairs and investor relations David Brook told AAP that the delisted manganese and nickel miner had laid off a small number of exploration and geology staff in the past week.
Mr Brook said the staff had worked for the company's Kambalda nickel operations in Western Australia's Goldfields region but exploration continued at its flagship Woodie Woodie manganese mine, south-east of Port Hedland in the mineral-rich Pilbara region.
He said the move was part of "optimisation and cost containment'' measures.
A spokesman for junior iron ore explorer Sundance Resources today confirmed the company had halved the number of contractors on site at its Mbalam project in Cameroon, west Africa.
Sundance said it had reduced drilling expenditure after achieving an exploration target of 2.0 to 2.5 billion tonnes of low-grade itabirite iron ore.
"Three drilling rigs ceased operations as at end of October 2008 with resource definition drilling to continue using the three larger rigs on site,'' the company said.
"This will result in significant cost savings and ensures prudent management of the company's cash resources ... of $32.7 million.''
The spokesman said Ausdrill 's drilling staff had been retained but Wallis Drilling's had not.
Other companies cutting back on mine staff include the Andrew Forrest-chaired Poseidon Nickel Ltd, gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd and nickel miner Minara Resources.
"It's obvious now that the financial crisis is beginning to feed through into the real economy,'' Curtin Business School professor of economic policy Peter Kenyon said.
"There are two forces at work: one is loss of confidence, the other is direct loss of orders.
"And the effect of the federal government's stimulus package is yet to be felt.
"Looking at what is likely to happen to unemployment, I wouldn't be surprised to see the unemployment rate by January, February of next year being in the order Australia-wide of 5.5 per cent.
"We're sitting at the moment at about 4.6 to 4.7 per cent.
"If the national figure goes to 5.5 per cent, the WA figures will go to about 5 per cent. Iron ore producer Mount Gibson Iron yesterday revealed it would cut a third of its workforce and sell the bulk commodity at a significant discount after some customers defaulted on binding offtake agreements.
About 190 of the company's staff will be laid off temporarily from its two operations in WA.
The West Australian newspaper today reported that Australia's largest engineering group Worley Parsons had taken 250 staff off mining projects, including Fortescue Metals' now pared back expansion, where it had been engaged as a contractor.
Worley Parsons said 70 contractors would lose their jobs.
The West Australian also reported that "about 70 of the skilled workers were being shifted'' from Moly Mines Ltd's Spinifex Ridge molybdenum project in the Pilbara.
Moly Mines yesterday said in its September quarter report that the company was ``instigating a concerted cost-reduction program across all its activities to conserve its cash resources'' as a result of difficult market circumstances.
In contrast to the doom and gloom, a spokesman for iron ore explorer Gindalbie Metals today said the company was "manning up'' so it could develop its Karara project in WA's mid-west region as soon as possible.
He said staff levels would rise from about 250 currently to 1500 during the mine construction phase, settling back to 500 during production.
