On April 11, BMA announced it would cease operations at the mine, claiming it had been unprofitable for some months, in part due to strike action, high costs and flooding.

The decision has been condemned by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, which is locked in a long-running and bitter industrial dispute with the company.

CFMEU district president Steve Smyth has claimed he was surprised about the company’s decision to cease operations at the mine and accused BMA of playing dirty tactics.

“At the end of the day, they don't want a permanent workforce at Norwich Park, they want to de-unionise the coal industry – this is a part of it,” Smyth reportedly told the ABC.

In a statement, BMA said union claims about Norwich Park needed to be exposed.

“The facts are clear about the advance notice provided to unions and BMA’s workforce about the difficult financial circumstances at Norwich Park mine that led to the decision by BMA to cease production at the mine,” BMA said.

“Union assertions to the contrary, and claims that the company has plans to reopen the mine as a contract operation in the short term, are part of a continuing and increasing pattern of misinformation about the sequence of events.”

BMA said it had briefed BMA employees about the continuing difficult financial position faced by the mine as early as February.

On February 10, BMA agreed to a written request from the unions for a paid meeting on February 14 to further inform employees and to seek their response to a request from the company for Norwich Park to be exempt from the next phase of industrial action by the unions in support of their enterprise agreement claims.

The offer was declined by Smyth.

“BMA’s request for Norwich Park mine to be set aside from continuing industrial action was rejected by the meeting,” BMA said.

The unions then proceeded with the next wave of industrial action at Norwich Park.

Following this, on March 23 BMA said it had advised employees that it would undertake a strategic review of the mine, again noting the difficult financial challenges the mine was facing.

On April 11, BMA announced it would suspend operations at the mine but would seek to find a way to secure the operations longer term.

“After BMA’s announcement on 11 April, Mr Smyth suggested the decision had been a complete surprise to him … this is completely at odds with the facts,” BMA said.

“Smyth has also suggested that the company intends to run the mine as a contract operation.

“Contrary to these claims, BMA has no plans to reopen the mine as a contract operation, nor has it knowingly advertised any positions after the announcement on 11 April to cease production.”

BMA admitted it was managing a “difficult and sensitive” issue at Norwich Park mine.

Its immediate priority is focusing on redeployment opportunities for about 1400 affected Norwich Park employees to the Saraji mine and other BMA sites.