UPDATE: Chile Collahuasi Strike In Day 18; Copper Shipped Out

As the strike at Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi drags on into its 18th day on Monday, a shipment of 44,000 metric tons was ready to leave port for Japan, a company spokeswoman said.

Some 120 workers have broken away from the strike and returned to the mine, accepting the sweetened offer the mining company presented last week.

The remaining 1,430 strikers have until late Tuesday night to accept the latest wage and benefits offer, which includes a signing bonus of around $30,000 per worker, before it expires, Collahuasi spokeswoman Bernardita Fernandez said.

She added that production remains normal at the mine due to the company's contingency plan.

The union, meanwhile, says production is only at 20% of capacity and vows to continue the strike until the company agrees to negotiate and listen to workers' demands.

It counters that only 36 workers accepted the company's offer and left the strike. According to Chilean labor laws, if 50% of the striking workers break away, the strike ends immediately.

Several Collahuasi labor leaders traveled to Santiago to meet with other unions, government and congressional representatives, and with officials from the International Labor Organization.

"We have a meeting scheduled today with the Labor Undersecretary," Cristian Arancibia, one of the directors at the sole union at Collahuasi, said at a press conference. He noted that the union was open to mediation from the government or representatives of the Catholic Church.

"The president of the union Manuel Munoz is currently meeting with Bishop of Iquique in the hopes to having him mediate in the conflict," Arancibia said.

According to the labor leader, the company hasn't been willing to negotiate, rather it presented its final offer and wasn't open to discussing it.

"This isn't about the money," he said, adding that the unionized workers seek output bonuses, better education and health benefits, and higher wages.

A person at the company familiar with the labor conflict blames the union for its reticence to talk. He says the union is trying to use this conflict to its benefit to garner more citizen support for labor movements in general.

Diversified mining companies Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) and Anglo American PLC (AAUKY, AAL.LN) each hold a 44% stake in Collahuasi. A consortium led by Mitsui & Co. (MITSY, 8031.TO) holds the remaining 12%.

Collahuasi, one of the world's largest copper mines, is located 185 kilometers southeast of the port of Iquique, high in the Andes mountains at 4,400 meters above sea level. It produces about 500,000 metric tons of copper a year, or about 10% of Chile's annual output.

Chile 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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