Whitehaven Coal is shedding almost 200 roles across the Blackwater and Daunia metallurgical coal operations it bought from BMA this year.

A company spokesman said the move followed a review of workforce plans at the two Bowen Basin sites.

Whitehaven would cut 91 employee roles and 101 contractor and labour hire roles, he said.

“This proposed new structure will remove duplication of roles, consolidate teams where logical, minimise unnecessary layers of complexity, and support a clear delineation of roles and responsibilities between site and functional teams,” the Whitehaven spokesman said.

“This change will help us to adopt a more streamlined, operationally-focused structure, bringing Blackwater and Daunia more in line with Whitehaven’s longstanding operating model.

“It will position our Queensland operations for sustainable success, now and into the future.

“As we always do, we will continue to review and optimise our operational performance to ensure it is as safe and efficient as possible, in addition to supporting our workforce and all those affected.”

The Mining and Energy Union said it was always disappointing when jobs were cut.

“In the case of Blackwater and Daunia, Whitehaven has been transparent about these job losses which are mostly related to duplications in BHP’s operational structures,” a spokeswoman said.

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