The employees of the mining company Anglo American are getting cash incentives to settle down in Moranbah QLD Australia.
The staff at the Moranbah North mine, owned by Anglo American, are being offered a $50,000 cash incentive to buy or build a home in the town. The mine is located south west of Mackay.
The announcement came as the residents of Moranbah prepared to meet tonight to oppose another mining company's plan to have miners fly in and out of town to work on a new mine located near the town. The residents of the town in Queenland's Central Highlands want the new mining community to integrate with the existing community to allow all to grow and prosper together.
Issac Mayor Cedric Marshall said that they would love to see more families living in Moranbah. He also threw down a challenge to other mining companies to show similar support levels to the other mining towns in the region.
The "fly in and fly out" mine workers do little for the local community and they see no money being infused into the town's economy. Opportunities for the youth of the mining towns are also limited. To grow the community needs the support of the mining industry.
Moranbah North is an underground longwall mining operation which began operating in 1998. Moranbah North is located in the northern part of the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland, 15 kilometres north of Moranbah township and 150 kilometres south west of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal at Hay Point. It is about a two-hour drive from the coastal city of Mackay.
Moranbah North is 88% owned by Anglo American, with the remaining 12% owned by joint venture partners Nippon Steel, Mitsui Coal, Shinsho Australia, NS Resources and Kokan Kogyo. The mine is operated and managed by Anglo American.