BHP vows legal action at Chilean mine after group enters site
Santiago — BHP Billiton, the owner of the world’s biggest copper mine known as Escondida, said it will take legal action after a group of more than 300 people entered the mine site during a strike and forced some contractors to abandon the compound. People wearing masks entered the mine site at 6pm Santiago time on Saturday, threatening the staff of contract companies and setting off fire alarms, causing damage, the Melbourne-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Sunday. A smaller group cut power to security cameras, it said. The union, whose 2,500 members stopped work on Thursday after wage talks broke down, has set up a makeshift camp just outside the mine. Union president Patricio Tapia said while a group of members did enter the mine site, they marched peacefully around the contractor workers’ camp and left. They did not trigger alarms or break anything, Tapia said by phone on Sunday.
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