Codelco asks to restart part of El Teniente mine after accident

By Daina Beth Solomon and Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO (Reuters) -Copper miner Codelco has asked Chile's mining regulator for permission to reopen a part of its flagship El Teniente mine after a collapse last week that killed six people, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Codelco suspended mining operations at El Teniente, the world's biggest underground copper mine, which produced more than 300,000 metric tons last year, on Thursday evening.

Chilean mining regulator Sernageomin later imposed a formal suspension, and instructed Codelco to present four reports related to the cause and impact of the accident so it could evaluate lifting the measure.

In a statement on Wednesday evening, Codelco said it had responded to three information requests from mining regulator Sernageomin and Chile's labor inspection office.

The company also said it was doing cleaning and maintenance at El Teniente's processing plants and smelter, as well as operations in the smelter's anode furnaces every two hours to keep the equipment in working condition.

A third person familiar with Codelco's operations said the switch to maintenance was due to the lack of copper to process.

After the accident, Codelco initially continued its processing and smelting operations despite halting underground mining activity.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Fabian Cambero, Editing by Natalia Siniawski and Christian Schmollinger)

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