Santiago—Unionized workers at the world's largest copper mine, Escondida in northern Chile, will begin negotiations on a new collective contract in June, operator BHP said April 21.
The upcoming talks could pose a new threat to copper supplies when the price of the metal is close to its highest level in a decade.The existing contract with the Operators and Maintenance Staff Union expires August 1.
If management and union negotiators fail to reach agreement on a new deal by that date, the 2,281-strong union could walk out on strike.
The Escondida workforce has been one of the most militant in Chile over the last two decades. A strike at the giant open pit mine which broke out in March 2017 lasted 43 days, making it one of the longest in Chile's mining industry.
It comes in a record year for labor negotiations in Chile's mining industry, with workers at several of the world's largest copper mines facing talks, including Codelco's Andina and El Teniente mines.
Escondida produced almost 1.2 million mt of copper in 2020, or almost twice as much as Collahuasi, the world's second largest copper mine by output.
BHP said that production during the nine months to March 2021 fell to 821,000 mt, down 8% from the same period of last year, as record throughput in the concentrator plants was offset by lower ore grades and cathode production.
BHP owns 57.5% of Escondida and Rio Tinto owns 30%, while Japanese investors own the balance of shares.
BHP said that it reached agreement on a new two-year contract with the smaller InterMel union at Escondida on April 1 this year.
BHP said it is currently negotiating a new deal with operating and maintenance staff at its 100%-owned Spence mine, where the current labor accord expires on May 30.
