....following second worker death....BHP Suspends Iron Ore...

....following second worker death....

BHP Suspends Iron Ore Operations After Worker Death (Update1)

By Jesse Riseborough

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, suspended work at its Western Australian iron ore operations following a second death in two weeks at its Yandi mine.

``All our iron ore operations in Western Australia are suspended except for essential services,'' Samantha Evans, a Melbourne-based spokeswoman for BHP, said today by phone. Mining stopped last night and it's too early to say whether the company will have to declare force majeure, Evans said.

BHP is the world's third-largest iron-ore exporter and produced 111 million metric tons in the year ended June 30, almost all of it from Australia. A worker also died at the Yandi mine last week, resulting in the temporary suspension of operations.

BHP dropped 2 percent to A$36.38 at 10:09 a.m. in Sydney on the Australian stock exchange.

Police are investigating the death that involved an employee of HWE Mining, the Leighton Holdings Ltd. unit that BHP employs to operate the Yandi mine, BHP said in a statement on its Web site dated yesterday. No further details of the accident were provided.

BHP controls seven iron ore mines in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Yandi, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of the town of Newman, is 85 percent owned by BHP, eight percent owned by Itochu Corp. and seven percent owned by Mitsui & Co.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=am2sU.OHTJsw&refer=home


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