Codelco suspends operations at copper refinery after worker’s death

Ventanas smelter. Credit: Codelco

Chilean state miner Codelco suspended operations at its Ventanas copper refinery after a worker died on the job, the company said on Friday.

The 32-year-old employee of Codelco contractor CVC was repairing the roof of a storage site used to hold copper concentrate when he was killed, Codelco said.

The firm said it had opened an investigation into the death. Sernageomin, Chile’s mining safety regulator, will also launch an independent investigation, it said.

After the worker’s death, “all operational activities of the division were suspended,” Codelco said in a statement.

The Ventanas division is responsible for the operation of a copper refinery within the mining company.

(By Fabian Cambero; Editing by Leslie Adler and Kylie Madry)

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