The company made the decision because of the difficult operating and financial conditions, its newly-appointed CEO Milind Oza said.

“Wollongong Coal has been facing a tough operating environment for some time including ongoing delays in the approval of the company’s Underground Expansion Project (UEP) and significant financial losses,” he said.

“This decision is not taken lightly and we have continually attempted to avoid this unfortunate situation by undertaking a series of workforce restructurings.”

The operational changes will affect operators, electricians, fitters, deputies and other staff. A small team will be retained to undertake care and maintenance activities.

Wollongong Coal is currently discussing the changes with employees, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers, Australia (APESMA).

“With the partial extraction of longwall 6 at the Russell Vale colliery complete and the company experiencing significant losses, ongoing operations at the colliery are simply not sustainable at this point in time,” Oza said.

“While this is a very sad day, we are absolutely committed to the region for the long-term, with the company having already invested over $400 million over the past two years.”

Oza said Wollongong Coal would be doing everything it can to ensure the operation, which has been inexistence since 1887.

“Wollongong Coal will continue to seek approval for the UEP at the Russell Vale Colliery, which will allow us to recommence extraction of high-quality coking coal which is in high demand by the global steel market,” he said.

“This approval will pave the way to the beginning of a continued long term future in the region and we will continue to work closely with the NSW government to ensure this can happen.

Wollongong Coal expects the UEP will be referred back to the Planning Assessment Commission for determination later this year.