The strike, the second in less than a month, is already affecting “some” operations at the project, union leader Jorge Juarez told local paper Gestion (in Spanish). However a mine spokesman told Reuters that operations were “normal”.
The mine, located in Peru’s central Ancash region, turned out about one-third of Peru’s copper production in 2013, according to government figures. But this year hasn’t been as good: output from Jan. to Sept. this year plummeted 16.2% compared to the same time period of 2013.
Antamina, which also produces a large amount of zinc, lead, and silver, is comprised of various stakeholders. BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Glencore (LON:GLEN) each have 33.75% stakes in Antamina, which has a 370,000 tons per year production capacity. Teck Resources (NYSE:TCK) holds a 22.5% stake in the mine and Mitsubishi Corporation has10%.
Minerals represent 60% of Peru’s export revenues, but lower production, falling prices and weaker demand from Asia have taken a heavy toll on earnings, dragging the nation’s growth rates down from 5.8% last year to a forecast of 3.1% for 2014, based on figures from Peru’s central bank.
Copper prices edged up barely a penny Thursday to US$2.90 a pound.
Image from WikiMedia Commons.