Lundin copper miners accept new offer, ending Chile strike

Bloomberg News | August 24, 2024 |
Caserones copper mine. (Image courtesy of Lumina Copper Chile.)

Lundin Mining Corp. workers in Chile accepted a new wage proposal in voting Saturday, spelling the end of an almost two-week strike that had disrupted production.


About 90% of members of one of three unions at the Caserones mine voted in favor of the new three-year contract after the two negotiating teams reached a preliminary agreement late Friday, union boss Marco Garcia said.

The breakthrough ends a strike by a union representing 29% of workers at a mine that last year churned out 137,100 tons, Chilean government data show. That will help ease concerns over tightness in the supply of concentrate — the raw material used to feed smelters. Lundin owns a 51% interest in, and operates, Caserones.

While copper prices have pulled back from record highs in May, they remain at elevated levels, emboldening workers during a busy schedule of collective bargaining in Chile. BHP Group had to agree to a signing bonus of more than $30,000 per worker to end a strike at its giant Escondida mine. Another Caserones union struck a wage deal in April.

Terms of the wage deal approved on Saturday includes a salary adjustment of 2.5%, a signing bonus of about $19,000 per worker, improvements in incentives and a soft loan of $3,300 each, the company said in a statement.

(By James Attwood)