Rio Tinto halts part of iron ore port operations

MarketWatch reports Rio Tinto PLC has halted export operations at one of the terminals at its Dampier iron ore port in Western Australia after a contract worker was killed when scaffolding he was working on fell into the water.

An investigation by the police and Mines Department has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the accident, the Anglo-Australian company said in a statement Sunday.

Rio Tinto hasn’t had a fatality at its operations in the Pilbara, a region in Western Australia state that accounts for roughly 40% of the world’s seaborne supplies of iron ore, since August 2003.

MarketWatch reports:

The employee of Celtic Scaffolding was carrying out maintenance at East Intercourse Island when the incident took place midday Saturday. Initial attempts to find the man were unsuccessful, Rio said.