SANTIAGO—Chile's Codelco kept the world's largest underground copper mine shut on Friday due to an at times violent two-week strike by subcontractors, a company source said, though there were signs the protest could soon lift.
Codelco, which produces around 1.7 million tonnes of copper a year, closed its Teniente division this week after strike violence flared and some staff were injured.
It first closed two smaller divisions, Salvador and Andina, 17 days ago during the latest in a series of strikes by subcontracted miners demanding a bigger share of windfall profits and improved working conditions.
"The shifts (at Teniente) remain suspended. There will be a meeting today to decide a definitive date for resumption of work with new security measures in place," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Another source at Codelco, the world's leading copper producer, said the smaller Andina division was also shut, save for a few staff maintaining equipment.
With global copper markets already nervous about low inventories, the strike has helped keep copper prices near record highs of about $4 per lb.
"Things (at Andina) are exactly the same. As it is a long weekend, only an emergency staff is in place to maintain equipment, but it is not operating," another company source said. "Call back on Monday."
Another source said on Thursday that Andina would gradually resume production.
Subcontractor union leader Cristian Cuevas said on Friday he hoped the strike could be lifted within hours, given negotiations were evolving.
"There are signs that we are on the right track and are hoping that we can resolve this general strike in the coming hours," he told Radio Cooperativa.
State-owned Codelco said on Tuesday it had lost about 19,000 tonnes of production due to the strike, or around $100 million in losses.
It has denied market talk it was approaching third parties to buy or borrow copper to meet delivery commitments.
Codelco says it has fulfilled its end of agreements reached last year with subcontractors, including a deal to absorb some of them as full-time staff.
The government wants a quick end to the feud, the latest in a series of headaches for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.
The strike took center stage at a Labor Day rally attended by tens of thousands of people in downtown Santiago on Thursday, when subcontractor union leaders vowed to continue their protest.
Toward the end of the rally, hooded youths threw sticks and stones at police, who responded with water cannon and tear gas. Police, who believe the youths were involved in student demonstrations in recent weeks, detained around 100 of them.
Andina, about 50 miles (80 km) northeast of the Chilean capital, produced 218,000 tonnes of copper in 2007. Salvador, 685 miles (1,102 km) north of Santiago, produced 64,000 tonnes of copper last year.
Teniente, 50 miles (80 km) south of Santiago, produced 405,000 tonnes of copper last year. Codelco's Norte and Ventanas divisions have run normally throughout the strike.
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