LONDON: BHP Billiton , the world’s largest diversified mining company, may cut jobs at its Worsley Alumina operations in Australia after completing a review of the business, the company said yesterday. The review follows last year’s completion of a $3bn expansion of the site that former CEO Marius Kloppers was reported to have described as the biggest mistake of his tenure.
A weakening of alumina prices was among the factors that forced BHP to book a $2.2bn gross impairment against Worsley in the six months to December 2012 and the group has earmarked its aluminium division among its non-core businesses and said it would consider options such as the sale or a spin-off of unwanted assets into a separate company. “With no new projects planned for the next five years, the structure of Worsley is under review,” a BHP Billiton spokeswoman said. REuters
