Chile Collahuasi Copper Mine Contract Workers Strike Ends

The contract workers' strike at Chile's Collahuasi copper mine has come to an end after police removed protesters and the company was able to evacuate its workers from the mining compound, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The contract workers began the strike on Friday by barricading access to the mining complex located at around 4,500 meters above sea level in the Andes mountains in northern Chile. As a result, some 4,000 staff and contract workers were stranded inside the mining compound with dwindling water and food supplies.

"We evacuated our workers and we're still in the process of checking that everyone is OK," the spokeswoman said.

Collahuasi, owned by diversified mining companies Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN), Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN, AAUKY) and a consortium led by Mitsui & Co. (MITSY, 8031.TO), filed court charges against the striking workers on the grounds the walkout wasn't legal based on local labor regulations.

The company is currently evaluating the damages at the mine and will come back on line "depending on the state of its people and its installations," the spokeswoman said.

Collahuasi doesn't yet have an estimate of how much output was lost during the strike or whether it can be recovered during the rest of the year.

The mine, one of the largest in the world, produces about 500,000 metric tons of copper a year, or about 10% of Chile's annual output. The South American nation is the world's leading copper producer, accounting for about 35% of global output.

-By Carolina Pica, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8919; carolina.pica@dowjones.com

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