Copper Clashes at World's Largest Pit Signal Trouble Ahead
- Codelco’s Chuquicamata union protests have impacted output
- About 1,700 jobs expected to be cut as mine goes underground
The Codelco Chuquicamata open pit copper mine.
Photographer: Cristobal Olivares/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The world’s biggest copper maker is pushing to modernize one of its oldest mines. With the plans spurring a quickening series of worker protests and disruptions, it’s becoming clear that technical challenges won’t be the only hurdle.
Codelco is in the last stages of a $5.5 billion project to breathe new life into its Chuquicamata operation in northern Chile, which will transform the largest open-pit mine by size into an underground operation. The state-owned miner needs to spend $22 billion through 2022 upgrading its aging mines to maintain output at a time when stockpiles in the world’s warehouses are ebbing.