Antofagasta settles dispute with Los Pelambres locals, but output reduced by 8kt

12th Mar 2015 07:06

Antofagasta has reached an agreement to resolve a two-week-long protest that hit production at its flagship Los Pelambres copper project in Chile.The company said it expected normal operations to be resumed in the coming days, but admitted that the industrial action resulted in 8,000 tonnes of lost copper production.Antofagasta "will work to mitigate this impact over the rest of the year", it said.Locals from the Choapa valley have been protesting since 28 February to seek action to help alleviate current drought conditions. The action led to the damaging of offices and equipment at the mine entrance.At the same time, the Civil Court of Los Vilos has said that Antofagasta's proposed works on the El Mauro tailings dam wall do not allow the natural flow of the Pupío stream to the town of Caimanes. The court has ruled that Antofagasta must destroy at least part of the wall, though the company intends to appeal the decision.After speaking with locals, regional authorities and the national government, Antofagasta has agreed to contribute funding for the studies of a desalination plant project and the construction of a water dam for local use. Los Pelambres also agreed that it will use sea water for any further expansions of its mining operations."Full access is being restored by the authorities and Los Pelambres will evaluate any damage done to off-site infrastructure," the company said.