BREAKING NEWS: Avalanche kills Freeport?s workers, mining operations halted

Two workers were killed and six more were feared dead when an avalanche incident hit Freeport Indonesia?s Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua province Thursday morning, a government official said.

The official said that the six workers were still trapped in the avalanche.

?Their chance of survival is slim,? said the official, who chose to remain anonymous.

The official said the incident had forced Freeport to completely halt its Grasberg mine operations. Grasberg produces 200,000 tons of ore per day, or roughly around 80 percent of Freeport?s ore production.

The official said mining activities in the companies underground mine Deep Ore Zone (DOZ) and milling activities remained unaffected.

Freeport Indonesia is a subsidiary of New Orleans-based copper and gold giant Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc.

The official said mining operations at Grasberg would remain closed until further notice. A team from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will fly to Papua tonight to investigate the cause of the incident.

Freeport Indonesia's spokesperson Siddharta Moersjid confirmed the incident, but declined to give details.

The incident was the second major incident at Freeport Indonesia's mines over the past several years after four workers were killed in a landslide at its tailing dam in Wanagon lake in 2000.(alex)