Worker dies at Rio Tinto's Australian mine

A 32-year-old man has died at Global mining heavyweight Rio Tinto Ltd's Pilbara Iron Ore mine in Western Australia state in the early hours of Monday.

Police were called to Rio's Channar mine at 0030 local time (WST) on Monday following reports of a workplace incident, where it was revealed the maintenance worker had died while working on a drill rig at the mine site, Western Australia state authorities told local media.

Rio Tinto is assisting Australian authorities with their investigation, a spokesperson told Xinhua in a statement. It's unknown how the man died.

Australia's mine sites have become relatively safe over the past decade following a spate of incidents in prior 30-years, as many projects exit construction and enter the production phase.

The man's death is believed to be the first fatality in Australia since 2013.

"The company is fully supporting the employee's family and work colleagues during this difficult time," a Rio Tinto spokesman Xinhua in a statement.

Rio's Channar mine is a joint venture with China's Sinosteel, heralded as a corner stone in the China-Australia economic relationship as one of the longest running partnership in the bilateral trade relationship.

Over it's 29-year history, the mine has provided 250 million tonnes of iron ore for China's steel mills, with plans for a further 70 million tonnes over the next five years.

At 1307 local time, Rio's shares were up 1.77 percent, or 77 Australian cents (57.33 U.S. cents) at 44.19 Australian dollars (32.90 U.S. dollars) in a strong Australian market. Endit