Miners in for shock after a decade-long boom

A decade of boom times has created a generation of mine workers and managers who will struggle to adapt to life in a lower commodity price environment, according to The Australian.

Experts and executives say that a new-found intense focus on cost control and a wave of job cuts are set to revive many of the practices that were common to the mining industry during the 1990s.

Iron ore past its ‘golden age’, says WA premier

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett says the rapid growth in the iron ore industry that helped support the economy is ending, while Australia’s chief commodities forecaster says a demand at a major destination for the ore, China, will decline, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Barnett made his call as the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics said Australia would need to be a low-cost producer of high-grade ore as it faced increased competition from Brazil and Africa, and as Chinese demand waned.

“The golden days of iron ore have now probably passed, or are passing,” Barnett said on Wednesday.

The benchmark ore price has dropped 30% to $US110.90 ($116) a dry tonne from a 16-month high on February 20, according to The Steel Index Ltd.