Codelco may have reached salary agreement with workers at "Gaby" mine

SANTIAGO.- Although no details were offered, a company source has said that the state-owned mining corporation Codelco, which is the worlds largest copper producer, has reached an agreement with workers the Gabriela Mistral mine – bringing an end to collective bargaining negotiations. 

Codelco had tried to negotiate with workers at the Gabriela Mistral mine (formerly known as the -“Gaby mine”-  earlier, however discussions came to a screeching halt after the company refused to offer an “end of conflict bonus” to the workers, who had asked for some 6 million pesos each.

Codelco had offered the workers just under half of this figure during the negotiation.

According to what the company source told Reuters, the agreement will be signed today.

The Gabriela Mistral mine –a project that has cost some 1 billion U.S. dollars- is expected to produce approximately 80,000 tones of copper during 2008, after beginning operations just a couple of months ago.

In 2009, the mine will be at full capacity, producing some 150,000 tons of copper per year.