Argus Media Limited

09/06/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/06/2021 12:16

Wage deal to end strike at Chile's Caserones Cu mine

Minera Lumina Copper Chile (MLCC) has reached a wage deal with the workers' union at the Caserones copper mine in Chile.

That ends a strike at the mine that started on 10 August.

MLCC owns the Caserones copper deposit, which is wholly-controlled by Japanese company JX Nippon Mining & Metals. Caserones produced 126,400t of copper in 2020 and 55,800t in the first six months of 2021.

The easing of supply disruptions at South American copper mines has eroded any eagerness for spot purchases, while suspended operations at Chinese smelters Nanguo Copper and Jinchuan has muted spot demand for copper concentrates. These have kept copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) firm over the past week.

Chile's state-controlled copper producer Codelco early last week reached a wage contract with unionised workers at its flagship El Teniente mine, ahead of the end of its existing labour contract in October.

The company then reached another deal with the Industrial Union of Labor Integration and Unified Workers' Union, two of the three worker unions at its Adina mine that went on strike on 12 and 17 August respectively.

Argus' weekly copper concentrate TC/RCs index for smelter purchases stood at $60.60/t and 6.06¢/Ib on 3 September, unchanged from a week earlier, almost double from $31.20/t and 3.12¢/Ib assessed by Argus on 7 May.