They may only be tiny voices now, but their collective cries will be heard soon enough.
They are the hidden faces of declining resource investment. But they aren't alone.
We've already seen a number of iron ore miners including Western Desert Resources (ASX: WDR) and Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO) struggle to stay afloat. Western Desert fell into administration, and there are signs Atlas is headed in the same direction – mainly thanks to too much debt and production costs well above the price it receives for its iron ore.
Then there are the secondary companies that are suffering. Transport company McAleese Ltd (ASX: MCS), which had several contracts to haul Atlas's iron ore to port, has suspended its shares. Mining services companies MACA Ltd (ASX: MLD) and Mineral Resources Limited (ASX: MIN), logistics companies and rail operators like Qube Holdings Ltd (ASX: QUB) and Aurizon Holdings Ltd (ASX: AZJ) are also likely to be affected, albeit somewhat differently.
Mining towns and residents next
But it's also the mining towns, where houses once sold for more than a $1 million dollars, now unable to be sold at a third of the price, that are suffering. The workers are going as mines shut down or close, or as the big miners lay off staff to get their expenses as low as possible.
What's worse are the stories of fly-in, fly-out miners who invested heavily in residential property in mining regions, such as Western Australia's northern coast and Queensland's western and eastern towns. Now they have no job, and their properties are worth far less than they owe the banks.
And as the ABC reports, Western Australian mining towns of Wickham and Karratha are starting to feel the pinch, as many former residents leave to head back to the cities they came from. The business owners in the towns have lost a huge amount of business and are unlikely to see it recover.
Who's after that?
Well, what are the banks going to do with those properties where borrowers can't pay back the loans or the businesses in the once booming mining towns? Will we see the banks' bad debts start to rise?
What about West Australian-based property companies like Finbar Group Limited (ASX: FRI)? Only last week the company announced plans to develop 680 apartments in Port Hedland – the same town where million-dollar properties can't be sold for a third of the price. Shareholders will be hoping Finbar's management know what they are doing.
This is only the start. Mining investment is still falling and has yet to hit the bottom, more companies, workers and shareholders are going to lose plenty before this is over.
