Reuters reported that Breakwater has shut its Estatuas zinc mine in Chile pending a probe over the death of an employee after an accident at the mine but the company said that it saw no impact to its 2010 output target on high stock.

Ms Ann Wilkinson Breakwater's VP of investors’ relations said that the remaining mines and a mill at the Toqui property continue to operate normally after the weekend accident. We don't anticipate impact on output because we have two months' worth of material in front of the mill. She didn't say when the mine will reopen.

Toqui is expected to produce 23,000 tonnes of zinc in 2010. The deposit is also seen producing 35,000 ounces of gold, 83,000 ounces of silver and 600 tonnes of lead in 2010. Toqui is expected to extract about a quarter of the company's estimated zinc production in 2010.

(Sourced from Reuters)