SANTIAGO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Copper giant Codelco has

received approval from Chile's mining regulator to reopen a part

of its flagship El Teniente mine, after more than a week of

suspended operations following a deadly collapse that killed six

workers, it said on Friday.

Chile's labor inspection office needs to sign off on the

plan before El Teniente can resume mining activity, Codelco said

in a statement. It did not say when it expects final approval or

when operations may restart.

The state-run company aims to restart in a number of sectors

of the mine, excluding those affected by the July 31 accident,

pending further analysis.

A major tremor that day caused tunnels to collapse around

the new Andesita section of the vast mine, which contains the

world's largest underground copper deposit.

The mining regulator said the approved areas show no damage

or imminent risk, and instructed Codelco to monitor seismic

activity and comply with operational guidelines.

"Sernageomin emphasized that the restart of operations must

be carried out under strict safety standards, prioritizing the

protection of worker lives," Codelco said.

The labor inspection office did not immediately reply to a

request for comment.

Earlier, Codelco said it had suspended contracts with

third-party workers at El Teniente through at least August 13.

Aquiles Cubillos, the prosecutor for the O'Higgins region where

El Teniente is located, has said the collapse damaged about

3,700 meters (3.7 km) of passageways, far more than 700 meters

initially estimated by the company.

He has not specified the severity of the damage, but said it

affected two or three areas of Andesita, and five or six areas

of the Recursos Norte unit.

El Teniente, which is more than a century old, spans more

than 4,500 km (2,800 miles) of tunnels and underground galleries

- nearly the distance between Chile and New York - deep within

the Andes mountains.

On Friday, Cubillos' team inspected four damaged levels of

the mine, excluding those where the injuries and deaths

occurred, and met with Codelco technical experts. Investigators

are documenting the damage with photographs to later reconstruct

a full map of the affected areas.