The Chilean national copper company restarted copper mine production affected by the collapse accident.

The Chilean National Copper Corporation has restarted underground operations at its largest copper mine, the El Teniente mine. Over a week ago, the mine experienced the deadliest mining accident in Chile in decades. The state-owned company stated in a release that mining operations have resumed in an area deemed safe by Chiles mining and labor departments later on Saturday. The operations in this area are set to return to normal on Sunday. The new mine section near the collapse on July 31 will still be off limits, as investigations continue. This restart is a major boost for the Chilean National Copper Corporation, which has been struggling to deal with the aftermath of the accident - which resulted in 6 deaths and dealt a significant blow to its efforts to reverse declining production levels. On Thursday, the Chilean Prosecutor's Office stated that inspections showed 3700 meters of tunnels were damaged, which is about five times the length initially estimated by the Chilean National Copper Corporation.