en.Wedoany.com Reported - Chile's state-owned copper company Codelco has suspended the Andes Norte expansion project at its flagship El Teniente mine, following a latest analysis showing seismic risks higher than previously anticipated after a fatal collapse at the mine last year.

On July 31, 2025, a collapse at the mine killed six workers and forced the suspension of operations in multiple areas. At the time of the incident, the company was trying to recover from its lowest production levels in 25 years at El Teniente, the world's largest underground copper mine.

Codelco said it decided to suspend the Andes Norte expansion to ensure worker safety. The company cited analyses conducted over the past six months indicating that seismic risks associated with the depth of the orebody differ from those previously identified and monitored.

"The available evidence is consistent with the possibility that the Andes Norte project may present emerging risks due to greater depth," Codelco said in a statement, adding that it would continue to study the issue.

"These analyses have identified the presence of an emerging seismic phenomenon whose characteristics differ from those historically known and managed in this operation," the statement said.

Andes Norte is located near the Andesita and Teniente 7 sectors, which were most severely affected by the collapse, which produced a seismic shock equivalent to a magnitude 4.2 earthquake. Codelco faces criminal, regulatory, and technical investigations, and the exact cause of the incident is still under investigation.

Global mining companies are increasingly turning to ultra-deep underground operations to boost production, sometimes to compensate for aging and depleted mines.

El Teniente, which has been in operation for more than a century, is located in the Andes Mountains, with more than 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) of tunnels and underground workings, approximately 75 kilometers (47 miles) southeast of Chile's capital, Santiago.