Here's some more noise (source: Business Spectator) from the...

Here's some more noise (source: Business Spectator) from the "Barry Supporters Club":

NEWS
4:35 AM, 10 Jan 2009 BHP keeps options open as Rio cuts production

Global miner Rio Tinto has confirmed it will cut coal production at its Kestrel mine while rival BHP Billiton is keeping its options open.

This week Rio said the equivalent of 50 full-time staff would be culled from its Kestrel coking coal mine, and it would cut the operation's output by 15 per cent amid low demand from steel makers.

Spokeswoman Allison Smith told AAP the production cuts at the underground mine near Emerald in central Queensland would start this month.

Staff had been advised this week, Ms Smith said.

"Longwall production is going to be reduced, starting this month, and this is directly in response to the global financial (crisis') impact on the steel industry," she said.

"Because of less demand for shipments of Kestrel's product, we're reducing production by 15 per cent.

But The Australian Financial Review reported that BHP was keeping its options open.

"We obviously always watch the market closely and keep a close relationship with our customers but there's nothing more I can say ahead of our production report," a BHP spokeswoman told the paper."

They are obliged to notify the market of material changes or something not deny the market info on the basis that there is some quarterly reporting requirement.