A haul truck caught fire and created a cloud of black smoke which the Silver City Daily Press said could be seen across Grant County, in New Mexico.
The incident, which took place on Saturday afternoon at the Cobre Mine, is currently being investigated.
In an email sent to the news agency, Linda Hayes, vice president of communications for Freeport-McMoRan, said a service vehicle was performing maintenance on the truck at around 11.30 am. The truck made contact with the service vehicle which then caused a fire to spread to the truck.
According to the email, the incident occurred on a waste stockpile next to the Continental Pit, and there were no injuries.
Hayes said: “As is standard procedure, the fire was allowed to burn until it was safe to fight and continues to smolder now. The appropriate authorities were notified and we are working with officials from the Mine Safety and Health Administration who are on site now investigating the incident.”
