, Columnist
Mining's Next Big Boom
Labor, like diesel oil and dump trucks, is an essential input to any operation.
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Here's something to give a fresh shot in the arm to copper, the second-best-performing base metal over the past three months: the prospect of strike action at its biggest pit.
Management at BHP Billiton Ltd.-run Escondida in Chile have rejected union demands for a 7 percent pay rise and 25 million peso ($37,300) bonus, and talks are ongoing ahead of a vote by workers on a final proposal Jan. 24, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.