An accident over the weekend at Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi's Patache port killed three contract workers and halted operations at the port, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

The company is looking at alternative ports to ship from, said Collahuasi spokeswoman Bernardita Fernandez.

The company is investigating the causes for the collapse of a shiploading arm at the port.

The accident comes on the heels of a 33-day strike, one of the longest in the Chilean mining sector, that ended earlier this month.

The mine is controlled by diversified mining companies Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) and Anglo American PLC (AAUKY, AAL.LN), each holding a 44% stake in the mine. A consortium led by Mitsui & Co. (MITSY, 8031.TO) holds the remaining 12%.

With an annual output of around 550,000 metric tons of copper, it's one of the world's largest copper mines. It is located 185 kilometers southeast of the port of Iquique, high in the Andes mountains at 4,400 meters above sea level.

-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8919; carolina.pica@dowjones.com
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