Antofagasta's Centinela strike ends after deal with unions

SANTIAGO, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Workers from two unions at Chile's Centinela copper mine have ratified an agreement reached with Antofagasta Minerals on a new collective bargaining contract, ending a strike of more than a week, the unions and the company said on Sunday.

More than 700 members of the Distrito Centinela and Minera Esperanza unions began the strike on October 7 after contract talks broke down. They had sought equal benefits for workers regardless of which union they belonged to.

The parties returned to the negotiating table on Tuesday in an effort to resolve the dispute.

"The Distrito Centinela and Minera Esperanza unions announce the successful conclusion of our collective bargaining process, after 94.49% of participating workers voted to approve the proposed collective agreement," the unions said in a statement, which was followed by a company statement confirming the deal.

Three workers had been on a hunger strike in an effort to pressure both sides into finding a solution to the deadlocked talks.

Antofagasta said on Wednesday it had managed to maintain production at normal levels, avoiding any negative impact from the strike at the mine, which produced 240,400 metric tons of copper in 2025.

The strike at Centinela, along with the ultimately unrealized risk of a supervisors' strike at BHP's Escondida mine, had been supporting global copper prices amid concerns about the industry's ability to increase supply sufficiently to meet expected future demand.