UPDATE: Chile Collahuasi Loading 10,000 Tons Copper For China

With the strike at Chilean copper mine Dona Ines de Collahuasi entering its 22nd day, the company is loading a shipment of 10,000 dry metric tons of copper bound for China, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Despite the strike, production at the mine, one of the largest in the world, has remained normal because of a contingency plan the company has in place

"The shipment of around 10,000 dry [metric] tons is being loaded and it's headed for China," Collahuasi spokeswoman Bernardita Fernandez told Dow Jones Newswires.

Since the strike started Nov. 5, Collahuasi has sent out two shipments of copper, one bound for Japan and the other for Europe.

Collahuasi already hired 100 workers earlier this week and is looking to hire 200 more to maintain production at the mine, she added.

With the deadline to accept the company's sweetened offer set to expire at midnight on Friday, 220 workers of the 1,551 unionized strikers have broken away from the industrial action and accepted the offer. The company is offering workers a wage increase, improved benefits and a contract signing bonus of around $29,000 per worker.

After the midnight deadline that signing bonus will be reduced to around $25,000 per worker, Fernandez added.

According to Chilean labor laws, if 50% of the striking workers break away, the strike ends immediately.

A recent court ruling, however, will force those workers that have accepted the offer to return back to the strike and give the company back the signing bonus, said Manuel Munoz, the president of Collahuasi's union.

Munoz added that he is hopeful the court ruling will make the company and labor leaders resume talks.

The company counters that the court ruling doesn't force workers to return back to the strike or give up their bonuses and that the ruling allows for workers to continue individually accepting its offer.

Diversified mining companies Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) and Anglo American PLC (AAUKY, AAL.LN) each hold a 44% stake in Collahuasi, while 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 3.5% of global annual output.

Chile is the world's leading copper producer, accounting for about 35% of global output.

-By Anthony Esposito, Dow Jones Newswires; 56-2-715-8929; anthony.esposito@dowjones.com

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