Adds details of incident in paragraph 2
Australian iron ore mining firm Fortescue suspended operations at its 75mn t/yr Solomon iron ore hub this morning, following an incident that is being investigated by the firm, police and the Western Australian department of mines, industry regulation and safety.
The incident occurred when there was a collapse of ground, which resulted in a fatality, FMG said in an update.
The incident is expected to cause the mining hub to be closed for one or two days, with more details expected to emerge later.
The Solomon hub in the Hamersley Ranges in the Pilbara, around 60km north of Tom Price, comprises the Firetail, Kings Valley and Queens Valley mines, which together have a production capacity of 75mn t/yr. Fortescue produces Kings fines from the Kings Valley and Queens Valley mines, while the higher iron grade, low-cost Firetail ore is blended with low phosphorous Chichester ore to create Fortescue Blend.
