End of strike at Peru copper mine Las Bambas imminent

The latest conflict at Peruvian copper mine Las Bambas was expected to be resolved on Wednesday. 

The 'indefinite' strike staged by workers at the mine in Apurímac region to demand a bigger share of profits was set to end with normal activities resuming on Thursday.

Operator Minera Las Bambas, owned by China’s MMG, told BNamericas that the workers’ union MMG SUTEMLB has sent a letter to the labor ministry stating that the strike is ending.

CONTEXT

On November 20, the union called the first strike at the mine after the company reported positive results for the second quarter.

"The mine achieved record sales in the second quarter of around 417,000t of copper concentrate, with around 43% of sales coming from a draw-down of stockpiles,” MMG said in its Q2 results report.

Sales totaled US$1.48bn in H1, up from US$804mn in the same period 2022.

Minera Las Bambas told the union that Apurímac will receive mining royalties equivalent to 50% of the income tax paid by the company. Despite this, MMG SUTEMLB said the strike would start on Monday, although only a minority of members heeded the call and the labor authorities considered the industrial action illegal.

"There are around 1,000 unionized workers, but only about 120 protested. Since not everyone participated, now they are going to negotiate," the Las Bambas representative told BNamericas.

Regarding the future of the new Chalcobamba pit, "the situation remains the same as it was months ago," according to the spokesperson. The mine hopes to reach an agreement with the Huancuire community – which is blocking the entrance to the pit – in December or January with the aim of starting works in April. Production would begin in July or August.