Only a portion of the retrenchments would be voluntary and the job cuts would take effect by the end of the month, Dawson general manager Aaron Puna said.

“The continuing low coal prices have placed considerable pressure on the profitability of the Dawson operation so we will be implementing some necessary changes to address the current financial state of the operation and improve productivity,” Puna said.

Anglo has been under growing pressure to lower costs per tonne at its mines and has been making strides in lifting productivity per man hour at its flagship Moranbah North underground mine in Queensland after it reverted to one longwall instead of two.

But the Dawson mine, one of the largest coal mines in Queensland that will still employ 1200 people after the job cuts, has struggled to keep costs down and step up its productivity levels.

Dawson is a dragline and truck-and-shovel operation that produces more than 9 million tonnes per annum of coking, soft coking and thermal coal.

Estimates for its ROM reserves are approximately 408Mt of coking and thermal coal quality with an additional 311Mt of mineable in-situ resources outside the current mine layout.

Construction Forestry Mining and Engineering Union district president Stephen Smyth told the ABC that union delegates would aim to stem the job losses.

“Leading into Christmas, we're what – four to six or a bit more weeks away from Christmas – and they've now got to look for new jobs,” he said.

“From our members' perspective, we'll continue to deal with the matter and ensure Anglo follow the certified agreement and what the law requires in relation to consultation and working through this.

“There's still a lot of unanswered questions, but you've got to feel for those unfortunate people who have lost their livelihoods.”

Smyth said the union wants “to talk to the company about minimising the loss of these jobs and how we can work through reducing people losing their livelihood”