“Warning” Strike Begins at Chile’s Escondida Mine

Owned by Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), Mining.com reported that roughly 2,800 workers went on a 24 hour warning strike on Monday at the massive Escondida copper mine, located in Chile. So far, news of the strike has not bolstered copper prices.

As quoted in the publication:

Escondida’s Sindicato No. 1 union carried out a similar 24-hour stoppage over pay and conditions last year. That dispute was quickly settled, but during a two-week strike in the summer of 2011 output of more than 40,000 tonnes of copper was lost, forcing operator BHP to declare force majeure.

News of the strike comes not long after BHP said the mine could substantially increase total output next year to 1.27 million tonnes.

Click here to read the full article.