BHP Suspends Australian Nickel Mine on Worker Death

April 12 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, suspended its Nickel West Leinster operations in Western Australia after a worker was killed.

The man was involved in an accident with a front-end loader while working 850 meters (2,788 feet) underground, Melbourne- based BHP spokeswoman Amanda Buckley said today in an interview. The mine was closed at 9:30 a.m. local time yesterday, she said. She was unable to say when the mine would reopen.

BHP is the world's third-largest nickel producer and the Leinster operation's two underground mines and plant have an operating capacity of 3 million tons a year, according to its Web site. Western Australian Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore last year toughened safety scrutiny of BHP’s operations after five deaths at its mine sites in the state in the nine months to March 2009.

"Mine safety is something that's always our highest priority," Wayne Isaacs, president of BHP's Nickel West unit, told ABC radio today. It was the third safety issue at Leinster in 10 months, after seismic tremors caused rock falls in mid- 2009, he said. No injuries occurred in those events, he said.

BHP shares rose 1.2 percent to A$44.43 at 11:11 a.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange.

Joanne Webber, spokeswoman for Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett, wasn't immediately available to comment.

Moore in April 2009 ordered that any prohibition notices for safety breaches at BHP sites would mean automatic shutdowns until safety hazards were fixed.

The Nickel West unit, including the Leinster and Mt. Keith mines, produced 59,400 tons of nickel in the six months to Dec. 31, the company said in regulatory filing.

The three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange for nickel, used to strengthen steel, advanced 1 percent to $25,452 at 8:53 a.m. in Shanghai.