--Fatal accidents shuts down all Collahuasi operations
--Shutdown comes on heels of halted operations over the weekend
on snowstorm
--Operations will resume once an investigation has been
completed
(Updates with additional information on mine's port and
background.)
SANTIAGO (Dow Jones) -- Operations at Chilean copper mine Dona
Ines de Collahuasi were halted Tuesday following a fatal accident
at the mine's concentrator plant, a company spokeswoman said.
Extraction operations at the mine were previously halted over
the weekend due to heavy snowstorms, but had resumed on Monday.
Operations won't restart until an investigation into the
accident is completed, said Collahuasi spokeswoman Bernardita
Fernandez, adding it wasn't yet clear when the investigation would
be concluded.
In addition to shutting down mining and copper processing
operations, Collahuasi also closed the Patache port from which it
ships copper.
Collahuasi, located 4,400 meters above sea level in the Andes in
northern Chile, is controlled by Anglo American PLC (AAUKY, AAL.LN)
and Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN), each of which holds a 44% stake. A
consortium led by Mitsui & Co. (MITSY, 8031.TO) holds the
remaining 12%. It's one of the world's largest copper mines, with
an annual production of around 500,000 metric tons of the
industrial metal.
-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8919;
carolina.pica@dowjones.com