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

** Shares of Australia's BHP Group BHP.AX 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%