ABC reported that the union which represents mine workers is hoping Iluka Resources will allow its employees to volunteer for a redundancy.

The mineral sands miner has announced that it is axing more than 200 positions across Western Australia at its south west and mid west operations.

Eighty of those jobs are to come from its mid west operations at Eneabba and Narngulu.

Mr Garry Wood the secretary of the mining division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union said that with the current economic circumstances it is difficult for the union to challenge the validity of the job cuts.

Mr Wood said that but Iluka must ensure a fair process is in place for achieving the cuts.

He said that "There may well be people who are in a situation to either voluntarily accept a redundancy or move on to another phase in their life. Others may in fact seek a transfer to the Murray Basin where there is some opportunities."

The city of Geraldton-Greenough said that the decision by Iluka to cut jobs will impact on the region.

Mr Tony Brun CEO of Geraldton-Greenough said that he is confident Iluka will work with the city to limit the impact of the job losses.

He said that "From the city's point of view, we'd really like to see that Iluka does it's best in terms of ensuring there's the minimization of any impacts with transition, helping people find work and hopefully identifying strategies to provide new opportunities if we can."

(Sourced from ABC.Net)