Deaths at US mine in Indonesia

An accident at a US-controlled copper and gold mine in Indonesia's remote Papua province has killed four workers, the company says, the latest safety-related incident at the site.

File image of the Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg mining complex, one of the world's biggest gold and copper mines located in Indonesia's remote eastern Papua province.

A light vehicle carrying nine passengers collided with a giant haulage truck at Freeport-McMoRan's huge Grasberg mine, according to a company statement.

The firm added that it has temporarily suspended open-pit mining activities at Grasberg pending an investigation.

Grasberg, one of the biggest copper and gold mines in the world, has been plagued by accidents and production problems in recent years.

In May last year, a training tunnel collapsed killing 28 miners as they took part in a safety course in one of Indonesia's worst-ever mining accidents.

Another worker died in December last year when rocks fell from a machine, crushing him.

In 2011 a three-month strike crippled production at the mine, and workers only halted the industrial action once Freeport agreed to a huge pay rise.