Chile Collahuasi halts sulfide plant ops on death

SANTIAGO Feb 21 (Reuters) - The world's No. 3 copper mine, Chile's Collahuasi, halted operations of its sulfides plant after an explosion killed a worker on Monday afternoon, mine spokeswoman Bernardita Fernandez said Tuesday.

"The plant was paralyzed while the investigation is being conducted," Fernandez told Reuters. It was not immediately clear how long plant operations would be halted or if the stoppage would have an effect on the mine's annual production.

Collahuasi, owned jointly by Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc, produced 504,000 tonnes of copper in 2010, when it was hit by a month-long strike.

Plant operator Cristian Araya died after a pump in the pools of Collahuasi's sulfides plant burst, the mine's union said on its web site.

Severe snow caused the mine to halt extraction operations on Sunday evening until Monday morning, though output was not affected.