SMM12, July 7-Chilean state-owned copper company Codelco said in a statement Thursday that it had negotiated a new collective labor contract agreement with workers' unions at the Gabriela Mistral mine in northern Chile. The 36-month contract includes a premium of 4.2 million pesos and 2 million pesos. Codelco said the deal was agreed by 91.7 per cent of the union.
A few days ago, Codelco said it had reached a new collective labor contract agreement with workers' unions at the Ministro Hales mine in northern Chile. The 36-month contract, which includes a signing bonus of 7 million pesos and a 1.2 per cent wage increase, was approved by 53 per cent of the union, the Codelco said in a statement. In 2017, Ministro Hales produced about 215000 tons of copper.
At the end of November, Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said production fell 3 per cent in the first nine months of 2018 as a result of a sharp drop in ore grade that led to a 12 per cent drop in pre-tax profits. The state-owned copper miner had pre-tax income of $1.42 billion between January and September as production costs rose 5 per cent from a year earlier to $1.39, the company said in a statement. Its mines produced 1.2 million tons of copper, with ore grade falling by 5 per cent over the same period. CEO Nelson Pizarro mentioned several other major challenges in 2018, including 18 contract negotiations between Codelco and union workers. "Copper prices rose," Pizarro said in its third-quarter results. This enables us to partially mitigate the negative impact of rising costs on reasonable profits, as well as the one-off costs arising from contract negotiations. The company has an ambitious $40 billion 10-year investment plan aimed at addressing the decline in ore grade in Chilean mines and reducing costs and increasing productivity. Pizarro said the planned upgrade was under way rapidly and that its flagship Chuquicamata mine overhaul was nearing completion by 70 per cent after scaling back earlier this year. The Chilean government said in June that it would provide $1 billion in "special" capital to Codelco to help prevent its ageing mines from drying up. Pizarro said Codelco had also begun developing its lithium batteries at Maricunga Salt in Chile and continued to seek partners to develop the asset.
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