By James Attwood | Updated on Oct 07, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Workers at Antofagasta Plc’s Centinela copper mine in Chile began a strike Wednesday after wage talks ended without an agreement, adding to labor tensions in the world’s biggest copper-producing nation.
The walkout started at 8 a.m. local time after the Minera Esperanza and Distrito Centinela unions said in a statement that mediation overseen by Chile’s Labor Inspectorate failed to resolve the dispute. The strike by more than 700 workers will restrict operations, the unions said.
The stoppage comes as labor tensions rise in Chile’s copper industry amid near-record prices. Supervisors at BHP Group’s Escondida are in government-mediated talks with the company in a bid to avert a strike at the world’s biggest copper mine.
Any prolonged disruption would add to supply concerns in Chile, where copper production has already been hurt this year by bad weather and operational setbacks. The strike will be the first at Centinela, one of Antofagasta’s four operations in Chile, and only the second for the company. The mine produced 240,400 metric tons of copper in 2025.
Read More: Chile Copper Production Sinks to Lowest in More Than 15 Years
The key sticking point is differences in pay and benefits between employees performing the same jobs but belonging to different unions. The unions said the company rejected a proposed mechanism to eliminate those disparities without offering an alternative.
Copper futures were steady in London trading on Wednesday after rallying to an all-time high last month as expectations of US tariffs drew shipments into the country, tightening supplies elsewhere. Prices are also supported by the mining industry’s struggles to grow supply at a time of rising demand from data-center and electricity grid build-outs.