Peabody Energy will cut 400 positions across its NSW and QLD coal mines, pointing to challenging market conditions as the reason for sackings.

The mining firm announced the round of job-cuts today but could not give a specific time-frame, saying only that the cuts will affect all Peabody’s Australian operations.

A statement today said the company is cutting down in all areas, including the amount of workers: “Reduction had been made to align the company’s workforce size with other cost reduction activities, as part of a comprehensive cost management review,” the official word said.

Peabody has a total of eleven works across Queensland and NSW, eight of which are in the latter state, making it one of Queensland’s major resources employers.

It is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures by the Peabody group which have recently included the removal of 400 contractor positions. The company posted a loss of US$1 billion for the four quarters of 2012.

The world’s largest private sector coal company said it was targeting an adjusted diluted loss per share of $0.26 to $0.04 for the first quarter of this year.

The targets “reflect expectations of higher Australian costs related to the timing of additional overburden removal and start-up costs associated with the transition to owner operator; lower realised metallurgical coal pricing; and lower U.S. sales and pricing," Peabody has previously said.