BHP posts second straight year of record iron ore production, beats estimates
The world's largest listed miner said iron ore output from Western Australia on a 100% basis was 76.8 million tonnes in the three months to June 30.
Canadian base metals miner Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) said a fire broke out on April 20 in the underground mine of its Zinkgruvan operation in Sweden, located approximately 250 km southwest of Stockholm.
The company said the incident occured after a haulage truck caught fire on the 1,140 metre level of the mine. On-site emergency responders were deployed and immediately initiated response procedures, working closely with the local fire department on arrival to fully extinguish the fire.
The company said all of the 58 workers who were underground at the time were safely evacuated, and there were no reported injuries.
Relevant authorities and government officials were notified of the incident, and an investigation will be initiated to determine the cause of the fire, Lundin said in a press release.
The company added that it is too early to determine the impact on the underground mine, and when operations can be restarted in the affected areas. Meanwhile, surface operations at Zinkgruvan will continue, with the concentrating facilities presently undergoing scheduled maintenance.
The Zinkgruvan operation – acquired from Rio Tinto in 2004 – comprises an underground mine, a processing plant and associated infrastructure. The mine was projected to produce 77,000-82,000 tonnes of zinc and 3,000-4,000 tonnes of copper this year.
