The Saraji South mine in the Bowen Basin will be placed into care and maintenance from November.

The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance said while the 50-50 joint venture company didn’t want to see operations paused or jobs lost, the state’s coal royalty scheme was causing issues.

“These are necessary decisions in the face of the combined impact of the Queensland government’s unsustainable coal royalties and market conditions,” alliance asset president Adam Lancy said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The simple fact is the Queensland coal industry is approaching a crisis point.”

Queensland’s Liberal National government has refused to make any changes to the state’s progressive royalty regime introduced by the the previous Labor government, saying it’s locked in until 2029/30.

The former government

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