Iluka Resources (ASX:ILU) has made 91 employees redundant, including 38 staff from its Perth headquarters, following the suspension of mining at its Cataby operation north of Perth, a decision announced three months earlier amid weak global demand for synthetic rutile.
The job cuts, implemented in December, affected both white- and blue-collar workers and represented about 13% of Iluka's Perth head office workforce.
The remaining redundancies were spread across the Cataby mine, located about 150km north of Perth, the Capel processing plant 210km south of the city, Iluka's Adelaide office and its Hamilton site in Victoria.
Iluka ended 2025 with a total workforce of 956 employees.
In September, CEO Tom O'Leary announced the company would pause mining at Cataby from Dec. 1, 2025 and shut down one of two synthetic rutile kilns at Capel that process Cataby’s output, citing demand uncertainty.
O'Leary said the move was a "prudent" and disciplined response that would position the mineral sands miner for an eventual recovery.
Cataby's primary product is chloride ilmenite, which is processed at Capel into synthetic rutile, a high-grade titanium dioxide feedstock used mainly in pigment production.
Cataby previously employed about 130 Iluka staff and 200 contractors, with contractors bearing the initial impact of job losses.
Most in-house workers were retained or redeployed to other projects, including Iluka's $1.7 billion Eneabba rare earths refinery under construction north of Jurien Bay.
The company said the redundancies would not affect Eneabba’s development, with first production expected in 2027.