Employees at Noranda‘s (NRD-T) Altonorte custom copper smelter in Chile have ratified a new three-year collective agreement, which takes effect on Dec. 24.
The new deal includes improved wages and benefits. It also allows for cost cutting measures and has provisions for performance bonuses.
A US$170 million expansion program that wrapped up earlier this year more than doubled the smelter’s capacity to treat copper concentrate to 820,000 tonnes per year. Copper anode production has increased 290,000 tonnes from 160,000 tonnes per year and by-product sulphuric acid to 700,000 tonnes from 220,000 tonnes annually.
In 2002, the smelter processed more than 452,000 tonnes of material and produced 323,000 tonnes of sulphuric acid.
It employs about 500 people.
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