Chilean miner Codelco hit by another fatal accident: avalanche strikes copper mine

As extreme weather continues to batter Chile, dealing further setbacks to the world's largest copper producer, a snow avalanche at the giant El Teniente copper mine owned by Codelco killed two workers. The state-owned company said in a statement that two subcontractor employees who had been conducting inspections in the open-pit area were initially listed as missing and were confirmed dead when found on Sunday. Amador Pantoja, head of the mine's union, said the El Teniente open-pit area remained shut down on Monday, but other areas, including the large-scale underground mining operations and the concentrator plant, were operating normally. The open-pit area accounts for less than 10% of the mine's total output.