Copper Production at Chilean Codelco's Salvador Mine Hit by Strike

CHILE September 06 2016 4:37 PM

SANTIAGO (Scrap Register): Copper production at Chilean state-owned Codelco's Salvador division has been stopped after protesting workers seized the installations at the start of a strike over a pay. Salvador, which produced 49,200 mt of copper last year, is Codelco's smallest operating division.

Before the legal strike began a group of around 60 Codelco employees and subcontractors seized the division. Codelco, which posted losses of $191 million for the first six months of the year, is running out of cash.

This year, cost-cutting efforts saw the mining and smelting complex turned a profit during the first six months of 2016 after years of losses. Over the last decade costs at the high-altitude site have risen fivefold.

The company warned that the protest could endanger efforts by the company to make the operation viable in the long term. Codelco is studying a new project, called Rajo Inca, which would keep the division in production after current reserves are exhausted.