An increase in industrial action is usually bad news, but copper producers should be cheering the souring relationship between Chilean mine workers and firms.
Exploration at Hot Chili Ltd.'s Productora copper project, located in Chile, has uncovered a gold resource at Sierra Zapallo, prompting analyst Trent Barnett of Hartleys to upgrade the company to a Speculative Buy.
Just as government threatened to withdraw the licences of mining firms which refused to pay the increased taxes so did the mining companies threaten to stop their mining activities.
Dependent upon diesel-driven power plants which supply almost 200MW of electricity to the FQM mining operation at Kalumbila, almost 120 kilometers west of Solwezi the provincial capital needs an extra 30 percent for it to operate at full capacity.
Experts warn Canada's mining industry faces a looming risk it's not ready to deal with — lack of access to workers with the skills needed in an upswing.