Pinto Valley mine lays off most of workers

BHP Billiton announced today they are laying off 550 workers from their Pinto Valley copper mine near Miami, as part of a worldwide reduction of 6,000 employees, mostly in nickel mining. BHP lists a total of 600 employees at the mine (370 BHP and 270 contractors), so this would appear to indicate the mine is being shut down with perhaps a small maintenance staff staying on.