http://www.copyright link/business/...-escondida-mine-turns-violent-20170213-***qcg
masked men setting fires, destroying property, assaulting staff... just terrible.
A strike at BHP Billiton's Escondida copper mine in Chile has turned ugly and police are investigating a fire at the mine that came just hours before 300 masked people stormed the site.
BHP confirmed on Monday that 14 people were injured after a fire broke out on Friday around 3am local time. Four workers were taken to nearby Antofagasta due to their injuries.
Patricio Vilaplana, vice-president of corporate affairs at BHP's Minera Escondida division, said there were more than 1500 contractors at the camp working on the expansion of the mine's copper concentrators.
That work has now stopped and members of the police forensic laboratory have since travelled to the mine, which is the largest copper project in the world.
This incident was followed by a day of drama at the site, where mining stopped last week when 2500 workers rejected a pay deal.
The Escondida Union No. 1 has established a makeshift camp at the mine, and ran several blockades on access roads and roads inside the operation, preventing contractors reaching the site.
Later that day, BHP said more than 300 masked people headed from the union's temporary camp to the mine site, bursting into a camp where contractors are based and forcing them to leave.
Masked group
BHP alleges the masked group activated fire alarms, damaged property and stole goods. The company said a smaller group cut power to surveillance cameras and the mine's entrance verification system.
"We categorically reject these acts because they not only violate the values of the company, but also violate the law and jeopardise the safety of our people," Mr Vilaplana said.
But the union has denied the claims, with president Patricio Tapia telling Bloomberg that while a group of members did enter the mine site, they marched peacefully around the contractor workers' camp and left. He said they didn't trigger alarms or break anything.
BHP has already declared force majeure on its contracts with the mine's customers.
Prices up
London copper prices rose higher on Monday to hit their highest in 20 months, at $US6170 a tonne.
Shanghai Futures Exchange copper surged 5.6 per cent to 50,190 yuan ($9515) a tonne.
In addition to the strike at Escondida, protests have also disrupted copper supply in a remote highland region of Peru, blocking roads used by MMG to transport copper concentrates from its Las Bambas mine.
Meanwhile, Freeport-McMoRan has been hit by an export ban that remains in place at its copper mine in Indonesia, which is the world's second biggest. The company has not yet reached agreement with the government on a new mining permit
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