Chile Police Lift Blockade at Collahuasi Copper Mine (Update1)

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Police in northern Chile lifted a five-day blockade by contract workers at Anglo American Plc and Xstrata Plc's Collahuasi copper mine.

Full-time company workers trapped at the site by the contractors' protest were freed by police, union spokesman Alejandro Allende said today in a telephone interview. Some injuries may have occurred in clashes between police and the protesters, he said.

"First we are ensuring that the mine was evacuated and that everyone is accounted for," Bernadita Fernandez, a spokeswoman for Collahuasi, said by telephone. "After that we will assess potential damages" at the site, she said, without giving further details.

The blockade halted production at Collahuasi, the world's fourth biggest copper mine located in the Atacama Desert. Fernandez declined to say when production would resume.