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BUENOS AIRES (miningweekly.com) – Protesters halted production for six hours on Saturday at Codelco Norte's Chuquicamata copper operations, in northern Chile, in a stoppage that cost the company as much as $5-million, according to officials.
The workers blocked access to operations, in protest to the decision to close a copper smelter 100 days ago, which had employed around 50 people.
The smelter was closed because the operation was "too expensive compared to the rest of the industry", which had rendered it uneconomic, Codelco Norte manager Juan Carlos Canales said.
"We use technology based on gas and we do not have that resource today, and if we did have it, the costs would still not be competitive," he said.
Still unhappy with the decision, Codelco workers protested again on Monday, blocking access to operations and stalling traffic.
Special police forces eventually intervened to unblock the doors so that production could continue.
Government-owned Codelco is the world's biggest copper-miner.
Chuquicamata is a large openpit copper mine in the north of Chile, and is one of the largest copper mines in the world.
