Santacruz Silver Mining reports fatality at Tres Amigos mine in Bolivia
Tres Amigos mine, a part of the Caballo Blanco Group of mines, has resumed operations after it was shut down following the incident.
Mine access roads blockaded by contractors at BHP Billiton’s Escondida mine have been re-opened.
Reuters said that production at the mine was unaffected by the dispute over bonus pay that escalated into a protest on Wednesday. Unionized workers did not join in the labour stoppage.
Escondida was hit last year by a two-week strike that caused BHP to declare force majeure – a clause that frees a company from meeting its obligations due to events beyond its control, such as strike or civil unrest or extreme weather.
Output fell 24%, its lowest level in nearly a decade, when combined with poor ore grades, Reuters stated. The reduced copper production coming out of Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, caused the world copper price to soar to near four-month highs last August.
Escondida ore is produced from two open pits producing 370 million tonnes of material per year. Production began in 1990, and since October 2005 Minera Escondida also operates Escondida Norte, which is a second open pit located 5 km from the main pit.
Ownership is 57.50% for BHP Billiton, 30% for Rio Tinto, 10% for JECO, and 2.5% for IFC.
Escondida, one of the lowest cost producers, it is currently undergoing a $544 million optimization known as the Escondida Ore Access (EOA) project. The development plan will relocate the primary crusher and conveying system to access higher-grade ore and increase output from 2013.
Aerial image of the Escondida mine by Wikipedia.
