BUZZ — Australia's BHP Group falls as its Escondida copper mine halts operations

* Shares of Australia's BHP Group fall as much as 2.8% to A$60.34, their biggest intraday drop since September 11 * BHP, which owns the world's largest copper mine, the Escondida mine in Chile, said it suspended operations * Says Escondida operations were suspended after a worker was killed in an accident * The mining giant said the worker had been killed while carrying out maintenance work, while the union representing the site had previously told Reuters that the accident involved a front-end loader frequently used by the industry * BHP had estimated the site would produce up to 1.28 million metric tons of the red metal this year * YTD, stock up more than 33% (Reporting by Aamir Sheik Khalid in Bengaluru) ((Aamir.SheikKhalid@thomsonreuters.com)