Rescuers still can’t reach Chile copper mine fall

Emergency teams still haven’t reached an earthquake-triggered copper mine collapse in Chile that killed one worker and left five others missing, according to state-run mining giant Codelco.

Rescuers as of Friday afternoon were trying to reach part of the El Teniente mine, the world’s largest underground copper operation, within 12 hours, according to a government news conference. The company hasn’t been able to establish contact with the trapped workers about 550 metres underground. 

Codelco suspended operations at the mine immediately after the incident Thursday evening at the Andesita project and started an investigation. The company identified the deceased as Paulo Marín Tapia. Nine other workers were injured, though none critically. The quake measured at 4.2 magnitude. 

Remote equipment

Codelco expects aftershocks from the earthquake to diminish in the next 12 hours, allowing the company to step up rescue efforts, El Teniente General Manager Andres Music said. The company plans to deploy remotely operated equipment to remove debris and reach the trapped workers. The next 48 hours are “critical,” he said. 

“The event we recorded yesterday is one of the largest events – if not the largest – that the El Teniente mine has experienced in decades,” Music told reporters on Friday.

The Andesita project, formerly known as the New Mine Level, is located in the northwest part of the El Teniente division, beneath the older Quebrada Tenient production level.

The project was due to begin production in this year’s second quarter. It aims to access deeper mineral reserves located 180 metres below current operations as upper levels approach exhaustion.

Last week, three workers who were trapped at Newmont’s (NYSE, ASX: NEM; TSX: NGT) Red Chris mine in northwest British Columbia were safely rescued after more than 60 hours underground.