Chile moves to end miner strike 

Chile's Codelco kept the world's largest underground copper mine shut on Friday due to an at times violent two-week strike by subcontractors, a company source said, though there were signs the protest could soon lift.

State-owned Codelco, the world's leading copper producer, closed its Teniente division this week after strike violence flared and some staff were injured.

It first closed two smaller divisions, Salvador and Andina, 17 days ago during the latest in a series of strikes by subcontracted miners demanding a bigger share of windfall profits and improved working conditions.

Arturo Martinez, head of the CUT, Chile's largest umbrella worker union, said on Friday afternoon the government had made a proposal to end the strike, but he gave no details.

"I have received ... a proposition from the government, which I am taking to give to the leaders of Codelco's subcontractors," negotiator Martinez told reporters after visiting the presidential palace in Santiago.

Government spokesman Francisco Vidal said the proposal centered on Codelco and the subcontractors fulfilling a series of agreements reached last year, among them a plegde by Codelco to absorb some subcontractors into its full-time ranks.

Subcontractor union leader Cristian Cuevas said earlier he hoped the strike could be lifted within hours, given negotiations were evolving.

"There are signs that we are on the right track and are hoping that we can resolve this general strike in the coming hours," he told Radio Cooperativa.

With global copper markets already nervous about low inventories, the strike has helped keep copper prices near record highs of about $4 ($5.12) per lb.

A source at Codelco, which produces around 1.7 million tonnes of copper a year, said the smaller Andina division was also shut, save for a few staff maintaining equipment. Salvador division was also shut.

Codelco said on Tuesday it had lost about 19,000 tonnes of production due to the strike, or around $100 million ($128 million) in losses.

It has denied market talk it was approaching third parties to buy or borrow copper to meet delivery commitments.

The government wants a quick end to the feud, the latest in a series of headaches for Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

The strike took center stage at a Labor Day rally attended by tens of thousands of people in downtown Santiago on Thursday, when subcontractor union leaders vowed to continue their protest.

Toward the end of the rally, hooded youths threw sticks and stones at police, who responded with water cannon and tear gas. Police, who believe the youths were involved in student demonstrations in recent weeks, detained around 100 of them.

Andina, about 80 km northeast of the Chilean capital, produced 218,000 tonnes of copper in 2007. Salvador, 1,102 km north of Santiago, produced 64,000 tonnes of copper last year.

Teniente, 50 miles 80 km south of Santiago, produced 405,000 tonnes of copper last year. Codelco's Norte and Ventanas divisions have run normally throughout the strike.