Reuters reported that the labor contract at Chile-based Codelco’s Chuquicamata mine will expire at the end of February 2013, but CEO Thomas Keller is hopeful that a new deal will be reached by the end of this year.

As quoted in the market news:

“We’re optimistic. It’s a complex negotiation but we’re hoping that with good will on both sides we can reach a deal,” Keller told Reuters on the sidelines of a year-end event organized by the government’s mining ministry.

“It would be very good news” to reach a deal before year-end, he added.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.