Workers to end strike at Peru's top copper mine Cerro Verde

Walkout lasted 43 days

LIMA (Reuters) — Workers at Peru's biggest copper mine, Freeport-McMoRan Cerro Verde, will resume work on Friday after voting to end a nearly three-week strike that had halved output, the union said on Thursday.

The union accepted the company's offer to improve family healthcare benefits and pay workers their portion of the mine's profits earlier than usual, union leader Jesus Revilla said.

The union has said that the strike had disrupted the mine's output of some 40,000 tonnes of copper per month, though the company said there was no material impact on production.

The announcement follows the end to a historic 43-day strike at the world's biggest copper mine in neighboring Chile last week.

It comes amid expectations that Freeport might soon resume exports from its Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia.

Freeport owns a 53.56 per cent stake in Cerro Verde. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd has a 21 per cent stake in the mine, and Buenaventura 19.58 per cent.

Latest stories