QCoal Group’s Byerwen Mine workers’ camp in Queensland will not be closed, says Queensland Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last.
QCoal has been working with the new Queensland Government on the future of the workers’ camp at Byerwen.
Under the Energy Resources Queensland group, QCoal and its partners campaigned throughout last year to save the mine, as well as its 800 jobs, from closure due to the previous Labor Government’s legislation.
The former state government introduced a legislation which forced more than 800 workers, representing 80% of whom live in regional Queensland, to move from their onsite workers camp to the Glencore mining town — a 40 minute drive from the Byerwen Mine.
Minister Last on 20 March announced an extension of the current timeline to force movement of the Byerwen staff into Glenden to December 2025.
Group Executive James Black says the company is stoked that the Minister has publicly committed to permanently retaining the Byerwen mine workers’ camp for the term of the mining lease.
“With the legislative deadline now delayed, we will continue to work with the state government on the future of Glenden,” Black says.
“For us it was always about choice, fairness and equity. Why were our workers singled out for this unfair treatment while other nearby mines were allowed to house their workforce in onsite camps?”
The Byerwen Mine is an open cut mine that aims to produce up to 10 million tonnes of hard coking coal per year.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: QCoal
