Operations at Nexa Resources' zinc refinery in Cajamarquilla, Peru, were running normally Monday after workers ended a five-day strike, a union official said.
About 314 workers who had downed tools March 5 at the refinery on Lima's outskirts returned to work after being threatened they would be fired, Sitrazinc union General Secretary Simon Diaz told S&P Global Platts. Peru's Labor Ministry declared the strike illegal last week.
"To prevent our bases being bled by an imminent dismissal process, an assembly agreed to suspend the strike," Diaz said in a telephone interview. "This suspension will enable us to continue to discuss economic aspects and overcome the threat of dismissal."
Nexa confirmed the end of the strike and the restart of talks over profit-sharing in a statement.
Nexa, which also controls the Milpo and Atacocha zinc-lead-silver mines in Peru, refined 312,339 mt of zinc, 59,980 kg of silver, 4,589 mt of copper and 797 mt of cadmium last year, according to the Energy & Mines Ministry. The company also has capacity to produce 76 mt/year of indium, its website says.
Nexa, which acquired the refinery from Teck Cominco in 2004, completed a $500 million expansion to double installed capacity in 2010.
Peru, the world's third-largest zinc miner, produced 1.47 million mt of zinc last year. Workers also have gone on strike over the past 12 months at mines operated by Southern Copper, Freeport-McMoRan and Minsur.
