Aquila falls after cutting workers at coal mine

Aquila Resources has dropped after news articles emerged that it was cutting its workforce at its Eagle Downs project because of falling commodity prices.

The stock is down 5.8% to $1.79 at 1100 AEST, with Aquila confirming the news in an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

The company, which also mines iron ore, said that it has "resolved to reduce the workforce for the time being" as it is focusing on "critical path development tasks" in a challenging commodity price environment.

Aquila did not say how many workers would be cut.

One measure of coal prices, called the McCloskey Newcastle coal spot price, is down 8.5% to $US82.95 per metric tonne in the year to date.

Aquila owns 50% of the Eagle Downs Hard Coking Coal Project, which is expected to be under construction until late 2016.