Chile Collahuasi Declares Force Majeure Following Port Accident

Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi on Monday declared force majeure on its copper concentrate sales contracts following an accident that killed three at its Patache port, the company said.

The force majeure comes on the heels of a 33-day labor strike that ended earlier this month, but during which the company met all its sales contracts.

"Collahuasi has declared Force Majeure over its copper concentrate sales contracts until further notice, as a result of the incident that happened on December 18th, 2010, when the Shiploader suffered an unexpected structural failure causing the death of three maintenance workers which Collahuasi deeply regrets and severe damage to key elements of the loading facilities," company spokeswoman Bernardita Fernandez said in a brief statement.

Collahuasi is evaluating the extent of the damage and how long it will take to repair the shiploader.

"The causes of the structural failure are under investigation," she said.

-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8919; [e-mail]