Mining operations have been temporarily suspended as a result and will resume once conditions are considered safe and appropriate, the company said.
Yauricocha is an underground mine located in western central Peru in the Yauyos province, approximately 12 km west of the Continental Divide. The mine is at an average altitude of 4,600 meters and has been producing for more than 68 years. It produced 31.8 million pounds of copper and 79.3 million pounds of zinc in 2021.
The deaths add renewed attention to mining safety protocols in Latin America. Since July, 10 coal miners were trapped in Mexico and never found, while two others died at two Chilean mines owned by Codelco.
Chilean workers at BHP’s Escondida mine narrowly averted a strike over safety concerns last week.
(With files from Reuters)
