SANTIAGO – The union of supervisors at Chile's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper deposit, began voting on Thursday on a new contract offer from majority owner BHP Group Ltd in a bid to stave off a strike.
The union told Reuters that voting on the proposal would continue on Friday.
Copper prices have been supported recently by concern about potential strikes in Chile, the world's biggest copper producer.
Escondida could continue to operate even if the supervisors strike, but a walk-off could nonetheless create bottlenecks and slowdowns.
The union and management ended five days of government mediation on Thursday after failing to reach agreements during the initial bargaining period.