No strike at Collahuasi (July 19, 2004)

Miners at the Collahuasi copper mine in Chile have called off a strike after reaching a deal with management for higher wages.

The union leaders at Dona Ines de Collahuasi agreed to a new labour contract; they had rejected an earlier offer of a 2.5% pay raise.

The deadlock helped encourage a 5% gain in copper prices over two weeks in early July.

London-based Anglo American, the world’s second-largest mining company, owns 44% of the mine. Toronto-based Falconbridge also owns 44%, and a group of Japanese companies headed by Mitsui & Co. owns the rest.

Situated near the northern city of Iquique, Collahuasi produced 330,000 tonnes of concentrate and 65,000 tonnes of cathodes last year. Output in 2004 is expected to rise as a result of an expansion of the concentrator, which boosted daily capacity to 110,000 tonnes. The design capacity of the solvent extraction-electrowinning plant remains unchanged at 50,000 tonnes per year.