Aditya Birla suspends Australian copper mine after worker dies

Australian copper miner Aditya Birla Minerals (ABY) said on Tuesday it had suspended operations at a mine in Western Australia while an investigation was carried out into the death of a worker there.

The worker died after an incident overnight at the underground mine, located 1,250 km (775 miles) northeast of Perth.

Police and the state's Department of Mines and Petroleum had been notified of the incident and would assist with the investigation, Aditya Birla said in a statement.

"ABY has voluntarily initiated a temporary suspension of operations till further investigation," it said.

Aditya's shares fell more than 13 percent to close at 19.5 Australian cents.

Mining was suspended for four months in 2014 after a cave-in, before the Department of Mines and Petroleum cleared the company to resume operations in July.

Aditya Birla reported production of 4,685 tonnes of copper in the quarter ended March 31. On April 30, it set an annual target of 27,000-29,000 tonnes for fiscal 2016.

Since 2006, copper concentrate produced at the mine has been sold to India's Hindalco Industries for smelting and refining at its Dahej facilities.

The Australian-listed mine owner is majority owned by Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group.