SANTIAGO - Chilean state copper miner Codelco is investigating the cause of a fire over the weekend at its Salvador mine, the firm said in a statement to Reuters on Monday.
The world's largest copper producer said the blaze occurred on Sunday in the aging mine's concentrator plant, where work is underway on a years-long project to extend the productive life of the mineby several decades.
"After the incident, all activities in the area were suspended, while informing the corresponding authorities about the situation and initiating an investigation to investigate the emergency's origin," Codelco said.
There were no injuries from the fire, the company added.
The Rajo Inca project is set to extend the useful life of the Salvador mine by 47 years. Last year, construction on the project was temporarily halted after a contractor died in an accident.
Codelco has been dealing with production problems caused by delayed entry of key projects, operational incidents and lower ore grades.
Salvador produced 53 000 metric tons of copper last year.