The fatality occurred late local time on Friday, September 30, in what the company described as an "isolated incident underground" while the team member was operating a piece of mobile equipment.

It follows almost two years to the day after a fatal accident claimed the life of another employee at the mine.

"It is with deep sadness that we report the tragic loss of a contractor colleague. Our thoughts are with the family, friends and our Neves-Corvo team at this difficult time," Lundin Mining's president and CEO Peter Rockandel said.

"The safety of our employees and contractors remains our top priority," he said.

The 2020 fatality led to the suspension of underground operations for under one week after the incident, except in the immediate area of the accident, National Bank of Canada Financial Markets said in a research note.

An estimated week of downtime accounts for about US$3 million, or 0.2%, of 2022E EBITDA, NBF said.

Neves-Corvo has two plants. The copper plant has a capacity of about 2.6 million tonnes per annum and the zinc plant has a capacity of around 1.1 million tpa and is undergoing an expansion to 2.5 million tpa.

Lundin Mining's share price was C$7.10 (US$5.21) on 3 October, having gained 2% day on day. The company has a market capitalisation of C$5.48 billion.