Metalpedia
Metalpedia
  • Copper: news
  • 1: Copper mine wastewater contaminates NW China river
  • A wastewater leak from a copper mine has contaminated a river and nearby grassland in northwest China's Qinghai Province, government authorities said on April 24, 2014.
  • No human beings or livestock have been affected so far after 3,000 cubic meters of wastewater leaked out of the tailing pond of the Suolagou copper polymetallic mine at around 5:20 a.m. on April 23, 2014 in Xinghai County in the Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, said a spokesman with the county government.
  • Local land resources and environmental protection authorities and the company had dealt with the water and buried the affected grassland to avoid poisoning livestock.
  • Source: Xinhuanet
  • 2: MMG to buy world's biggest copper mine
  • China's MMG announced on April 14, 2014 that it has inked an agreement to buy Glencore Xstrata's copper mine project Las Bambas in Peru for 5.85 billion U.S. dollars.
  • The deal, marking the largest outbound metal mining purchase by a Chinese enterprise, will be finished through a joint venture formed by MMG, Guoxin International Investment Corporation and CITIC Metal Co., MMG said.
  • MMG is a subsidiary of China's leading mining company, China Minmetals Corporation, which is likely to squeeze into the global top 10 copper producers list after the acquisition.
  • Situated in south Peru's Apurimac region, the Las Bambas project is the world's biggest copper mine under construction and is due to start production next year. It could produce 450,000 tonnes of copper concentrate in the first five years after it reaches full capacity.
  • The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014, subject to approvals by the governments of both sides and shareholders of MMG.
  • MMG, Guoxin International Investment Corporation and CITIC Metal Co. own 62.5 percent, 22.5 percent and 15 percent of the joint venture respectively.
  • Source: Xinhuanet
  • 3: Frequent Chilean copper strikes
  • According to statistics, Chile's Escondida is the world's largest copper mine, but in recent years it has suffered frequent workers’ strikes. In 2003 the mine workers asked for a rise in salary, or they would go on strike; in 2006, the labor dispute triggered a massive strike; in 2011, the mine went on another strike; and in 2013, the mine accidentally suffered another strike, reported by AsianMetal.
  • Escondida’s strikes have usually been due to labour disputes, and lasted for half a month or longer, which has had a serious impact on its copper production, and in turn had a negative effect on the world's copper supply production and copper price trends.
  • Similar strikes have also occurred in other copper mines across the world, but as Chile is the world's largest copper producer and exporter, its influence was the greatest.
  • In 2013, Workers began a surprise strike at the world's largest copper mine, Chile's Escondida, on Wednesday to demand improved working conditions and a bonus. In the same year, “Almost 45,000 workers in the world’s top copper-producing nation go on 24-hour strike demanding pension reform and job security amid calls for re-nationalization.”
  • In 2011: Chilean copper miners strike over restructuring plans. "Miners from Chile's state-owned company, Codelco, have gone on strike for the first time in nearly 20 years."
  • From Nov. 6, 2010 to Dec. 7, 2010, Collahuasi, one of the large private mines, suffered a 33-day strike, which is the longest recorded to date.
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