Exploration of iron ore mine perforced to be stopped by happened an accident in mine exploration locatio. Iron ore mine project is property of the biggest mining company of world, BHP Billiton. iron ore mine exploration stop will lessen supply and result of iron ore exploration BHP Billiton 14 percent.

Reported at bloomberg online, BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, suspended its West Australian iron ore operations after a second fatal accident in two weeks, halting output from mines supplying about 14 percent of annual global exports.

“All our iron ore operations in Western Australia are suspended except for essential services,” Samantha Evans, a Melbourne-based spokeswoman for BHP, said today by phone. Mining stopped last night and it’s too early to say whether BHP will declare force majeure, allowing it to miss deliveries, Evans said.

Iron ore supply from Australia, the world’s biggest exporter, has already been disrupted this week after Rio Tinto Group declared force majeure following damage to a loader at its Cape Lambert port. Cash prices are trading at about double annual contract prices because of demand from China’s steel mills.

“With any supply outage, whether it be an industrial accident or strike action, that will have an impact on the spot prices,” Alfred Wong, senior portfolio manager at Unifund in Hong Kong, said today by phone. “That just shows you how tight the market is.”

BHP fell 0.3 percent to A$37 at the 4:10 p.m. Sydney time close on the Australian stock exchange. The company produced 111 million metric tons of iron ore in the year ended June 30. Rio Tinto dropped 1.4 percent to A$110.80.

Steel Prices

China’s steel prices rose this week, the first increase in seven, after smaller steelmakers closed plants because of weakening demand. Australia may export about 326 million tons of iron ore this year, Citigroup Inc. forecast in an April 7 report. Total global exports are estimated at 797 million tons, it said.

“It will mean a short term disruption to supply from the region,” Gerard Burg, energy and minerals economist with National Australia Bank Ltd., said today by phone from Melbourne. “We might see some mills who are in need of supply seeking some spot market deliveries to replace the contract ore. It’s a market that still remains quite tight.”

Iron ore for immediate delivery in China costs about 1,310 yuan a ton ($192), including freight costs, after falling 0.8 percent in the week ended Aug. 29.

The worker, an employee of HWE Mining, the Leighton Holdings Ltd. unit that BHP employs to operate the Yandi mine, died following a collision between a light vehicle and a haul truck, BHP said today in a statement on its Web site. A worker also died in an industrial accident in a workshop at the same mine last week, also resulting in the temporary suspension of operations.

Police Inquiry

Inspectors from the resources safety unit of the West Australian state government are heading to the site as part of the investigation, the department of consumer and employment protection said today in an e-mailed statement. A coronial investigation has started and police remain at the scene, Geoff Stewart, officer in charge of the Newman Police Station, said by phone.

BHP “will take comprehensive measures to reinforce safety procedures at their sites before re-starting operations,” Eric Ripper, Western Australia’s minister for state development, said today in an e-mailed statement following a briefing with BHP executives in Perth.

The two deaths at Yandi followed a fatal accident at the company’s Nelson Point operation in the Pilbara on July 29. The company suffered 11 fatalities in the year ended June 30, including 5 deaths in a helicopter crash in the African nation of Angola.

Hostile Takeover

BHP, seeking to buy Rio Tinto in a $122 billion hostile takeover, controls seven iron ore mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. Yandi, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northwest of the town of Newman, is 85 percent owned by BHP, eight percent owned by Itochu Corp. and 7 percent owned by Mitsui & Co.

The company has more than 8,000 workers in the Pilbara region, employing about 18 percent of the region’s total population, according to its Web site.

Rio Tinto declared force majeure following damage to a rail- car dumper at Cape Lambert port on Aug. 31, Nick Cobban, a spokesman for London-based Rio said Sept. 3. The damage led to a partial suspension of iron ore ship loading, Cobban said.

Cape Lambert is one of two ports Rio Tinto uses to transport ore from the Pilbara to its customers in Asia.

Force majeure is a legal clause that allows a company to miss deliveries because of circumstances beyond its control.

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