Antamina copper mine halts operations after worker death

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Peru’s Antamina, one of the country’s biggest copper mines, said on Tuesday it had suspended operations as a precaution after a worker died in an accident at its Yanacancha site.

Antamina – whose shareholders are BHP (ASX: BHP), Glencore (LON: GLEN), Teck (TSX: TECK.B) and Mitsubishi Corp (TYO: 8058) – said it had launched an investigation and was coordinating with authorities after the death of an operations worker.

A source close to the company told Reuters there was no timetable yet for restarting operations while the investigation was underway.

The stoppage is another setback at a mine that is central to Peru’s copper industry.

Peru is the world’s third-largest copper producer.

Output at the mine fell 9% last year after another fatal accident at the site.

Antamina’s copper output had been recovering this year before the latest halt.

Courtesy: www.mining.com