The end of a historic strike at Chile’s Escondida copper mine, the world’s biggest, has left its owner, BHP Billiton, nursing an estimated $1-billion loss and probably in a weaker position for negotiations in a year or so, company and industry insiders said.
On Thursday, the 2 500-member union at the mine decided to end the strike after 43 days by invoking a legal provision that allows it to extend the old contract by 18 months.
