Chile's Codelco suspends El Teniente mine operations for worker rescue

Chilean copper giant Codelco has halted mining at its flagship El Teniente mine and postponed its quarterly results announcement as it continued efforts on Friday to reach five trapped workers following a deadly collapse.

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By afternoon, the workers had been trapped nearly a full day without contact following a 4.2 magnitude tremor on Thursday that killed one person at the new Andesita unit of the world’s largest underground copper deposit.

Codelco said it would reschedule the release of its first-half financial results, planned for Friday morning, due to its attention on rescue efforts, which were complicated by aftershocks.

"The tunnels are closed, they've collapsed. There's no possibility of even radio communication," El Teniente's General Manager Andres Music told a press conference around midday.

Codelco planned to send remotely operated equipment, similar to robots or drones, to help workers clear material blocking the tunnels once aftershocks subsided in the evening, Mr. Music said.

Codelco halted copper mining at El Teniente as part of its emergency protocol, while continuing its processing and smelting operations, said Amador Pantoja, an El Teniente union leader.

Codelco, the world’s biggest miner that has been struggling to boost output, has not addressed how El Teniente’s production could be affected.