OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL), in a filing with the Australian Stock Exchange, estimated the value of its copper concentrate lost in the derailment of a train in the Northern Territory last week, at $7 million to $8 million.

The company is talking with its insurers in a bid to recover the losses of 1,200 tonnes of the copper concentrate that spilled into the Edith River aboard an Adelaide-to-Darwin freight train. The incident is still under investigation by authorities.

The lost shipment is about 4 per cent of OZ's 2010-11 net profit of $189 million. News of the transport accident caused shares of the company on Thursday to drop 2.9 per cent which was followed by another 1 per cent cut causing share prices to go down to $10.01.

A mining insurance broker said a ruling that OZ polluted the Edith River with the copper concentrates could complicate the company's claim for insurance. OZ, however, said in a previous statement that the large volume of water on the river could have diluted the impact of the spill on the waterways.

Included in the shipment that spilled on the river are 96 kilogrammes of uranium, according to OZ's Material Safety Data Sheet. The NT and South Australia governments allowed the firm to transport the copper concentrates without complying with Australia's Dangerous Goods law, News.com.au reported.

The daily said NT WorkSafe and Safework SA gave exemption for OZ from recent rules that mandated copper shipment concentrates to be transported in rigid containers with lids. OZ moved the materials in containers called kibbles, covered only by tarpaulins.

The 12-month exemption given to OZ, which ended Saturday, was to give the company ample time to design and build new containers that would comply with the law, SafeWork SA said. OZ said the new containers are scheduled to arrive next week.

The accident, which was the result of the train being derailed by flood waters, closed the railway between Alice Springs and Darwin. The rail system is expected to be closed for more than two weeks for repair.

The closure is also expected to affect OM Holdings (ASX: OMH), which transports more than 1 million tons of manganese yearly from its Bootu Creek mine through the port of Darwin using four trains weekly.

OM is talking with rail operator Genesee & Wyoming on the impact of the train derailment on OM's first quarter export shipment schedule for 2012. OM will not be immediately be affected because it has some stockpiles of manganese at the Darwin Port which it could load on ships.

However, OM's production will not be affected since it would just stockpile the mineral until the rail is repaired.

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