GLNCY Glencore Plc (PK)

By Scott Patterson 

Two workers died after a landslide at a troubled Glencore PLC copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Five other workers remain missing, Katanga Mining, 75%-owned by the Swiss mining giant, said Tuesday. The company said the landslide was the result of a "geotechnical failure" that affected the north wall of its KOV open-pit mine. Katanga said the landslide also damaged infrastructure designed to remove water from the mine pit.

Shares of Glencore fell 16% in afternoon trading in London. Shares in mining companies are down across the board in Tuesday trading.

Glencore halted mining operations at Katanga last year. The mine was struggling after a sharp downturn in copper prices. The company said it planned to invest $880 million to upgrade the facility and reopen it in 2017.

The move was part of a plan to reduce costs and slash Glencore's nearly $30 billion in net debt by $12 billion or more as the company scrambled to confront mounting investor fears about the strength of its balance sheet.

It wasn't immediately clear if the missing workers were working on the upgrade. Katanga's loss attributable to shareholders was $424 million in 2015, compared with a gain of $136 million the previous year.

A Glencore spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment.

Write to Scott Patterson at scott.patterson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 08, 2016 11:04 ET (16:04 GMT)

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