Canada miners say not affected by Peru earthquake

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian mining companies including Barrick Gold Corp. and Teck Cominco said on Thursday their operations in Peru suffered no material damage from a 8.0-magnitude earthquake that shook the country overnight.

Barrick, which operates the Pierina gold mine about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northeast of the capital of Lima and Lagunas Norte about 400 km north of Lima, said it had no reports that there had been a disruption.

"Our operations have not been affected," company spokesman Vince Borg said. "The company is assessing ways in which we can help in the rescue effort.

Diversified miner Teck Cominco said there had been "no material effect" to the Antamina mine, located about 270 km north of Lima. Teck owns a 22.5 percent interest in the mine, while BHP Billiton., Xstrata. and Mitsubishi Corp.. own the rest.

By mid-afternoon on Thursday, the death toll from the quake had reached 400, while over 1,300 were injured and thousands had no power. The quake was centered about 145 km southeast of Lima at a depth of around 40 km and was closely followed by nine aftershocks.

Chariot Resources Ltd., whose Mina Justa copper development is located much closer to the quake's epicenter, was not affected, the company said in a release.

Vena Resources, which has four exploration projects underway in the country, said all its employees and their immediate families had been accounted for as safe.

"Vena's ongoing exploration and mining projects in Peru have not been affected by the earthquake and operations will continue," the company said in a statement.

Shares of the companies were down on Thursday, as fears of deteriorating credit conditions and the potential economic impact pulled commodity prices lower.