"Contractor dies in incident at Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon mine", 13 March 2026

A contractor employee has died following an incident at the Bingham Canyon mine, in Utah, operated by Rio Tinto.

The mining major confirmed on Friday that the fatal incident occurred at its Rio Tinto Kennecott operations.

CEO Simon Trott said the company was devastated by the loss.

“We are devastated by the loss of our colleague, and our heartfelt sympathies are with their family, friends, teammates, and everyone in the Kennecott community. We are working closely with the relevant authorities and contractor partners to support a complete and thorough investigation.”

Following the incident, all surface and underground mining operations at the site have been suspended.

Trott said the company’s priority was supporting employees and understanding what led to the incident.

“The safety of our people comes before everything else. We are fully focused on understanding what led to this tragedy. I will be travelling to Kennecott to support our team on site.”

Support services, including counselling, are being provided to employees while authorities and the company investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident