It follows reports this week that Peabody is cutting 450 contractor positions, the Aquila Resources Vale joint venture Eagle Downs coal project is pruning numbers, and so is Glencore Xstrata’s Ravensworth mine.

The job cuts at Goonyella Riverside will begin from July 1 and represent more than a quarter of Downer's workforce on site where they perform pre-strip operations, using heavy machinery to remove soil above the coal.

BMA will now carry out those operations using its own employees, but contractors are believed to be able to reapply for their positions directly with the mine.

Downer's corporate affairs and investor relations group head Michael Sharp confirmed the job cuts to AAP..

“Downer will be making redundant approximately 185 of 680 positions at the mine,” he said.

“Goonyella Riverside will remain Downer's largest operation in eastern Australia.”

In May, Downer EDI dismissed a third of the workforce onsite at Idemitsu’s Boggabri coal mine in New South Wales while retaining temporary overseas workers.

More than 100 local workers had been made redundant at Boggabri Coal, while six diesel fitters employed on 457 visas retained their jobs.