B.C.'s mining industry hit with layoffs

The impact of the global economic crisis is hitting B.C.'s mining industry with a wave of industry layoffs and troubled financing.

Up to 500 workers at four mines are expecting layoff notices, while the owners of a proposed mine confirm they are struggling to secure financing.

The companies blame low commodity prices for forcing them to cut costs and for scaring investors away.

The Willow Creek Mine near Chetwynd was the province's first new coal mine to open in decades and was heralded as a sign of the industry's resurgence.

But on Wednesday, Western Canadian Coal announced it was shutting the mine down until coal prices rise.

About 85 people were laid off and the company said it will also take a closer look at the profitability of its other two mines in northeastern B.C.

On Wednesday, the owners of the proposed Rosy Creek molybdenum mine near Atlin in northeastern B.C. said they had to reconsider construction plans while they search for financing.

Meanwhile, miners in the Cariboo will soon be joining mill workers on the unemployment line after Imperial Metals announced Tuesday it was laying off almost 50 workers at the Mount Polley mine near Williams Lake.

Last week, Taseko Mines announced 75 layoffs at the nearby Gibraltar Mine, and in late October Breakwater Resources announced a temporary shutdown of its Myra Falls zinc mine near Campbell River on Vancouver Island, putting up to 300 people out of work.

The news will be a political and economic blow to the prospects of B.C.'s Liberal government, which had been promoting mining as a way of cushioning the blow of job losses in the forest industry while generating tax revenue.