Glencore has announced it will close its Mount Isa mining operations, threatening the future of about 1200 workers.
The mine will cease operations in 2025 after a review determined the copper mining operation had reached its "end of life", the global resources company said in a statement released this morning.
Mount Isa Mines' other metals assets including a copper smelter, the George Fisher Mine, a zinc-lead concentrator, a lead smelter in Mount Isa and a copper refinery in Townsville will all continue operating.
"We know this decision will be disappointing for our people, our suppliers and the Mount Isa community," said Sam Strohmayr, Glencore's chief operating officer of Australian zinc assets.
"The reality of mining is that mines have a beginning, middle and end. And unfortunately, after 60 years of operation, Mount Isa's underground copper operations have now reached that end."
There are about 1200 people working in Mount Isa's underground copper mines, its copper concentrator and supporting services.
Australian Workers' Union Queensland secretary Stacey Schinnerl said it was "an incredibly sad day" for the entire Mount Isa community.
Schinneral said it was now up to Glencore to provide redeployment opportunities for local workers affected by the closures.
"Glencore have been using foreign labour and FIFO labour hire on their other operations in the region," she said.
"It is our expectation that local workers who are affected by these closures are given priority access to these roles."
Glencore's Lady Loretta zinc mine, located about 140 kilometres north-west of Mount Isa, is also set to close in 2025.
The zinc mine employs about 250 people and has been operating on an expected seven-year mine life.
Strohmayr said the future of those jobs was still unclear.
"It's too early to put a figure on how many people may receive redundancies until we work through a process of speaking to each worker and discuss options around retention, redeployment, and retraining," he said.
"Redundancies are the last resort and will be offered only when other options have been exhausted."
