SMM7: Codelco's Chuquicamata workers have blocked access to the mine, protesting the "improper dismissal" of two workers and preparing for future negotiations. Unions Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of the Chuquicamata Copper Mine, as well as Union (Antofagasta) 1 of Antofagasta, agreed to suspend operations on Monday morning.
After brief negotiations in December 2016, the company signed a 27-month labor agreement with six unions at the Chuquicamata mine, and Codelco's labour relations are now deteriorating again. The union had previously said that Codelco had announced that it would cut 1700 jobs at the Chuquicamata mine, and that Codelco, as a manager, had failed to give due consideration to the "social and economic impact of the layoff plan."
Chuquicamata copper mine reserves about 1333Mt, has a century of mining history, ore grade has been declining to 0.7%, the mine has been from the world's largest open-pit copper mining to underground copper mining.
Production: Codelco owns 100 per cent of the Chuquicamata mine, which produced 331000 tons of copper in 2017 and 1.734 million tons of copper that year by Codelco. The mine produced 70,000 tons of copper in the first quarter of 2018, up 17000 tons from the same period last year. The company had expected the mine to produce 427000 tons of copper for the whole of 2018.
Cost: Chuquicamata mine cash cost 111 c ≤ lb in 2017, well below Codelco's average cash cost of about 131.8 c/lb.
