BHP Billiton has made up to 70 workers redundant at its Mt Keith nickel mine in Western Australia to ensure the economic viability of the project, The Australian News reports.

The measures are not expected to impact production rates at the mine but all the company’s operations will be under review, the company said.

BHP said it would try to relocate employees to other sites, the news service reports.

BHP, which announced plans to reduce its global workforce by 6,000 in January, said the job cuts include 60 BHP employees and ten contract workers, abc.net.au reports.