SYDNEY, Oct 21 (Reuters) - BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, has declared force majeure on some copper and uranium contracts after damage to the main shaft at its Australian Olympic Dam mine this month, it said on Wednesday.
The miner has sent force majeure notices to some customers, a move that frees it from liability if it can't meet a contract due to events beyond its control.
It also said in a statement emailed to Reuters that the shaft would be out of operation for at least a month.
'This may change once our investigation is completed. The force majeure notice is based on currently available information,' the statement said.
Analysts have speculated that repairs could take up to six months and cause the loss of 50,000 tonnes of copper production and 1,000 tonnes of uranium production. BHP made no comment on the likely loss of production.
A runaway skip, or ore carrier, forced the immediate shutdown of the underground mine's main haulage system. The mine has since been running on a smaller secondary system that can handle only about 20 percent of haulage.
Olympic Dam produced 194,000 tonnes of copper and 4,000 tonnes of uranium in the year ended June 30 2009.
BHP Billiton has been studying a proposal that would lift annual production at the mine to 730,000 tonnes of copper and 19,000 tonnes of uranium.
BHP said its investigations into the incident on Oct. 8 was not yet completed and that mining was continuing, with ore being hoisted to the surface via its smaller Whenan shaft.
An examination was underway to assess the impact on mine production, planning schedules and budgeting, BHP said.
(Reporting by James Regan and Jonathan Standing, editing by Mark Bendeich)
((jonathan.standing@thomsonreuters.com; +61 2 9373 1826)) Keywords: BHPBILLITON/ (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The miner has sent force majeure notices to some customers, a move that frees it from liability if it can't meet a contract due to events beyond its control.
It also said in a statement emailed to Reuters that the shaft would be out of operation for at least a month.
'This may change once our investigation is completed. The force majeure notice is based on currently available information,' the statement said.
Analysts have speculated that repairs could take up to six months and cause the loss of 50,000 tonnes of copper production and 1,000 tonnes of uranium production. BHP made no comment on the likely loss of production.
A runaway skip, or ore carrier, forced the immediate shutdown of the underground mine's main haulage system. The mine has since been running on a smaller secondary system that can handle only about 20 percent of haulage.
Olympic Dam produced 194,000 tonnes of copper and 4,000 tonnes of uranium in the year ended June 30 2009.
BHP Billiton has been studying a proposal that would lift annual production at the mine to 730,000 tonnes of copper and 19,000 tonnes of uranium.
BHP said its investigations into the incident on Oct. 8 was not yet completed and that mining was continuing, with ore being hoisted to the surface via its smaller Whenan shaft.
An examination was underway to assess the impact on mine production, planning schedules and budgeting, BHP said.
(Reporting by James Regan and Jonathan Standing, editing by Mark Bendeich)
((jonathan.standing@thomsonreuters.com; +61 2 9373 1826)) Keywords: BHPBILLITON/ (If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.