SANTIAGO - Chilean state copper miner Codelco on Friday removed three senior executives linked to its El Teniente division, the site of a deadly collapse last year, after an internal audit found inconsistencies tied to a prior accident in the same mine.

Codelco said that an internal audit stemming from the July accident at El Teniente uncovered "serious breaches of duty" by executives after a rock explosion within the mine in 2023, including in the company's reports to mining regulator Sernageomin.

Codelco's COO Mauricio Barraza, who oversaw all of Codelco's mine divisions, as well as El Teniente head Claudio Sougarret and El Teniente projects manager Rodrigo Andrades will be replaced immediately, Codelco said.

Barraza had previously served as mine head. Sougarret was brought on to lead the mine in August, following the accident. He had previously been operations manager there.

The removal of some of Codelco's top operational leaders underscores the complexity of the technical challenges dating back years at El Teniente, the world's largest underground copper mine.

Barraza will be replaced by Lindor Quiroga and Sougarret will be replaced by Gustavo Reyes. Claudio Canut will also take over as interim head of the Andina division, Codelco said.

'RADICAL' REORGANISATION
Codelco's board said in a separate statement on Friday that it had also identified weaknesses in governance at El Teniente and throughout the firm more broadly.

The board approved a "radical" reorganization of operations at El Teniente, with senior executives more involved in the mine's day-to-day affairs.

Unalterable digital signatures will be implemented on technical reports, the board said. It did not say whether the former executives had altered signatures.

Codelco added that it would hand over information to Chile's public prosecutor's office while opening further internal audits.

DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD
The collapse last year occurred in an expansion project at the flagship mine that was meant to boost output at a time when the company is struggling to lift production.

On Tuesday Sougarret told Reuters that output at the mine, once Codelco's most productive, would be depressed for the next five years, a longer estimate than the miner's previous estimate of three years.

He said that production would likely hover around 301 000 metric tons of copper per year during that period.