SANTIAGO (Reuters) – A worker who had been trapped following a rock blast at a construction site managed by Chile’s state-owned Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, was evacuated without injury, the company said on Monday.
The event occurred in Andes Norte, part of the new El Teniente mine, which is among the firm’s projects aimed at mitigating the drop in production due to aging deposits. It is scheduled to begin production this year.
“Some entryways were damaged and one worker was trapped, but later evacuated unharmed,” Codelco said in a statement.
The accident comes nearly a month after a fatal accident at the same expansion project left one worker dead. These accidents come nearly a year a series of fatal accidents at Codelco mines raised questions about safety at the company.
“We are reporting a seismic event due to a rock blast… resulting in a trapped worker, who is in good condition and in communication,” the National Geology and Mining Service, Sernageomin, said on Twitter before Codelco provided an update on the situation.
Codelco said in a statement that a seismic event was registered early Monday morning at the Andes Norte ventilation sublevel. Emergency protocols were immediately activated and the sector was evacuated.
Relevent authorities were notified and 12 workers were evaluated at health centers with no serious injuries, it said.
(Reporting by Fabián Cambero; Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Alexander Villegas and Bill Berkrot)
