Chile's Codelco Halts Operations, Finds Bodies Following El Teniente Mine Collapse

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Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Operations at Codelco's (Santiago, Chile) El Teniente copper mine are halted as the company investigates the reasons behind the mine's collapse.

Codelco discovered the bodies of six workers who were trapped in its El Teniente mine following an earthquake on Thursday. The miners were working in the mine when Level 7 of the facility collapsed during the earthquake.

The first body was found on Thursday, and the remaining five were found throughout Sunday.

The company mentioned that the collapse occurred during a 4.2-magnitude earthquake on Thursday; however, it announced an audit to understand in detail the reasons behind the mine collapse.

"A key investigation begins now. We will commission an international audit with top experts to determine what we did wrong. We owe it to the workers' families, to those who work at Codelco, and to all of Chile," said Maximo Pacheco, Codelco's director.

The mine's operations were shut down after the accident, and no date has been offered for the safe restart of the asset.

Chile's President, Gabriel Boric, echoed Pacheco's comments on the international audit to discover what occurred at the mine. At the same time, he announced three mourning days for the death of the six workers.

"This is a painful day for the country, and for this reason, I have decided to declare three days of national mourning, starting today, Sunday, August 3, Monday, August 4, and Tuesday, August 5, to honor the memory of Paulo, Gonzalo, Álex, Carlos, Jean, and Moisés, and to accompany their families and loved ones in their grief," announced Boric.

El Teniente mine is one of Codelco's largest assets. Last year, the mine had an output of 356,400 tons of copper, while this year, between January and May, production reached 141,400 tons, almost 12% more than during the same period last year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Plant Database can click here for a profile on the El Teniente mine.

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