Rio Tinto unit says injured Quebec worker dies, output halts

(Adds details on Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) unit)

MONTREAL, May 19 (Reuters) - A worker at Rio Tinto's Fer et Titane unit died after being injured at its facility at Sorel-Tracy in the Canadian province of Quebec, the global mining company said on Tuesday.

Work at the operation, which produces titanium-dioxide feedstock, cast iron, steel and metal powders, was suspended until further notice.

The Fer et Titane unit is part of Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium, which produces about 19 percent of the world's supply of titanium dioxide from its operations in Quebec, South Africa and Madagascar.

Titanium (Other OTC: TTHG - news) dioxide is mainly used to produce titanium pigment, the most commonly used white pigment. It is used to add opacity to paper, paints and plastics.

Rio Tinto said it was cooperating with Quebec police, but the company gave no details on what caused the worker's death.

"Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with the worker's family and colleagues," Sylvain Paul-Hus, a managing director with the Sorel-Tracy unit, said in a statement.

Quebec police declined to comment further. The provincial workers' compensation board and the union at the plant could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal, Scott Haggett in Calgary and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Grant McCool)