Glencore announced on Friday that it was cutting a third of its annual zinc production, the bulk of which comes from Australia, due to weak prices.

QRC CEO Michael Roche noted the job losses were only a temporary measure.

“There is no doubt that these job losses are a setback for the Mount Isa region, but they need to be placed in the context of a total estimated mining industry residential workforce in the north-west of some 3500 full-time employees,” he said.

“In total, an estimated 6200 employees and contractors work at operations in the northwest.”

But Roche said the area still had a strong future, as evidenced by MMG’s recent approval of the development of the Dugald River zinc project.

“The $US750 million Dugald River mine is set to deliver an annual production of approximately 160,000 tonnes of (contained) zinc in concentrate, and almost a million ounces of silver a year over the estimated 28-year mine life,” Roche said.

“Construction of the Dugald River mine should commence in 2016, with first production of the high-grade zinc expected in 2018."

He also noted the recent partnership between Altona Mining and China’s SRIG at the Cloncurry copper project.

Roche is meeting with the Palaszczuk government today to discuss opportunities for the government to work with the QRC and northwest operations on near-term challenges, including rail costs and the availability of energy.