Mitsubishi suspends WA Oakajee project THE $6 billion Oakajee port project in Western Australia has been officially suspended, after proponent Mitsubishi announced a "slow down" of work in November. Oakajee Port and Rail (OPR), which was managing the project, announced on Friday that Mitsubishi was suspending further work on the project and also putting its Jack Hills mine expansion on care and maintenance. OPR said the reasons it slowed down work at Oakajee in November - a difficult economic environment and lack of progress with talks for joint venture partners - had worsened. "This will unfortunately require further reduction in staff numbers," OPR said. The company's chief executive John Langoulant said the move was a difficult but necessary step. "Progressing partnership discussions for the mine, port and rail project in the current economic environment for commodities is particularly challenging, and is probably now harder than it was in November 2012 when the decision was made to reduce expenditure on the project," he said. The Jack Hills mine and expansion project will be properly maintained so they can be ramped up rapidly when the conditions allow. WA Premier Colin Barnett has just returned from a trade mission in Asia, where he was trying to drum up Chinese involvement in the Oakajee project.