The CEO of the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory says jobs will be cut as mining is suspended and the company begins its exploration underground.

A $60 million loss was recorded last financial year by Energy Resources Australia, outlined in its half-yearly report released today, compared to a $120 million loss in the same period to June 2011.

Mining of 'Pit 3' will finish at the end of the year, and only stockpiles of ore will be processed until more uranium can be discovered and mined in coming years.

CEO Rob Atkinson says although the company is slowly returning to profit, financial savings will need to be found.

"We do have to position ourselves to become a smaller company moving forward," he said.

"One of the benefits of having a very hot employment market up here is that we do have quite a bit of turnover.

"We're a fairly big company who are producing less and as such we are going to need less support and less people to support the mining operation.

"When we look at the overall numbers of the company, it will be less...we will be managing that predominantly through turnover."