UPDATE: Chile Collahuasi Labor Strike Halts Copper Production
29 November 2011 - 6:57PM
Dow Jones News
Copper production at Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi
has been cut into, as a labor strike at the mine rolls into its
second day, the company said Tuesday.
Collahuasi, one of the globe's biggest copper mines, is no
stranger to labor disruptions, after facing a one-day strike
earlier this year and in 2010 a 33-day work stoppage, the longest
strike at a privately held mine in Chile.
The strike has halted copper concentrate production, and
partially stopped copper cathode output, Collahuasi said.
Cathodes are large sheets of 99.99% pure copper, while
concentrates must be smelted to get the purer form of the
industrial metal.
Roughly 92% of the Collahuasi's output is in the concentrate
form and 8% is cathodes. The mine also produces small amounts of
molybdenum, a metal used to harden steel.
The mine's Patache port, which was shut down for several months
in 2010 after an accident following the 33-day strike, is operating
normally.
According to the company, 10% of its workers went on strike
Monday. Collahuasi has implemented a contingency plan to safeguard
its staff, contract workers and installations.
The mining company has called the strike illegal as workers
aren't currently negotiating new contracts. Local labor laws allow
for labor stoppages but only during the collective-bargaining
process.
Collahuasi, the world's third-largest copper mine with an annual
production of around 500,000 metric tons of copper, is located at
over 4,000 meters above sea level high in the Andes of northern
Chile.
Global diversified mining companies Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) and
Anglo American PLC (AAUKY, AAL.LN) each hold a 44% stake in the
mine, while a consortium led by Mitsui & Co. (MITSY, 8031.TO)
holds the remaining 12%.
-By Anthony Esposito and Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires;
56-2-715-8919; chile@dowjones.com