Codelco gets approval from labour inspector to restart El Teniente operations
SANTIAGO - Copper miner Codelco received authorization from Chile's labor inspector office to begin resuming certain operations at its flagship El Teniente copper mine, it said on Saturday, after more than a week of suspended operations following a deadly collapse that killed six workers.
In a statement, Codelco said operations can resume in areas not affected by the July 31 collapse, including Pilar Norte, Panel Esmeralda, Pacifico Superior, Diablo Regimiento, and others, while sections such as Recursos Norte and Andesita remain suspended, pending further inspections.
The decision allows Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, to partially restart activities at one of its key divisions, potentially easing operational disruptions.
Chile's mining regulator had given the green light for a partial restart on Friday evening, but the company needed the labor inspection office to sign off on the plan before resuming mining activity at a time when the miner grapples with production challenges.
The El Teniente division is expected to announce its detailed plan for restarting operations along with safety measures to ensure compliance with labor authority requirements. Inspections in suspended areas will continue before a full restart can be authorized.
El Teniente, which is more than a century old, spans more than 4 500 km of tunnels and underground galleries deep within the Andes mountains.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation