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Workers for mining giant Rio Tinto face potential layoffs as commodity prices plummet.
The global mining corporation, which is the parent company to Utah corporate icon Kennecott Utah Copper and Kennecott Land, is laying off 14,000 employees worldwide, about 8 percent of its workforce, including an unnamed number in Utah.
Jana Kettering, spokeswoman for Rio Tinto, said, "We know that we will have to take our share of those cuts here, but we don't know how many that is, and we will not know for several weeks."
Earlier this year, copper prices hit a record at $4 a pound. In the economic tailspin, prices have spiraled down to $1.40, hit by declines in housing, car manufacturing and industrialization in China.
Rio Tinto employs 2,400 Utahns in the Salt Lake Valley, many at the Bingham Canyon mine, which has closed during previous downturns. Is that a possibility this time? Kettering said, "Rio Tinto has not yet determined if we will shut anything down, if we will sell assets. Those decisions will still need to be made. Right now the target number for savings is to reduce our debt by $10 billion."
What about the company's multi-million dollar, multi-year commitment for naming rights at RSL's Sandy stadium? "We are committed to remaining the naming rights sponsor for Rio Tinto stadium," Kettering said.
A spokesperson with one of the unions which has represents many workers in the Bingham Canyon mine says they've been in touch with Rio Tinto management and they don't have any new information. They say they're anxiously awaiting word of what the Rio Tinto cuts will mean here.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
