Codelco reports accident at mine where worker died last month
SANTIAGO - Top global copper producer Codelco reported an accident at its Chuquicamata mine on Wednesday, weeks after a mishap killed a worker there and drew scrutiny to the Chilean state company's safety practices.
Although no one was hurt in Wednesday's "operational incident," Codelco said it had launched an investigation to determine the cause. Production had not been halted.
Codelco has been under pressure to improve safety policies since two people died at its mines last month, one at Chuquicamata.
Mining regulator Sernageomin told Reuters last week that the national mining industry had deficiencies in safety protocols and had to improve practices.
Codelco said the latest accident had involved the upper part of a "material dome" and a conveyor belt that had given way.
Social media images showed the rupture of the top of a structure at the mine, which is in the north of Chile.
In a brief statement, the company said it would implement a contingency plan to "address operational continuity".
It later told Reuters that the incident had affected one of the conveyor belts that fed the mine's concentrator from three sources of ore. The affected belt carried around 15% of ore fed to the plant.
Last month, Codelco temporarily suspended work at its construction projects following the deaths of the two workers.
Comments
The
functionality
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation