- The strike appears to have ended at BHP Billiton's (BHP -0.5%) Escondida copper mine in Chile, after the union says workers followed a breakdown in settlement talks by invoking a legal provision that allows them to extend their old contract.
- The rarely used Article 369 in Chile's labor code allows workers to revert to their previous contract for 18 months, after which both sides must again try to reach a new agreement.
- A swift restart in output at Escondida, which produced ~5% of the world's copper last year, likely would hold down copper prices and provide some relief to the Chilean economy after a strike that has lasted 43 days, but the use of Article 369 would be "complex" for the company, mine President Marcelo Castillo says.
- ETFs: JJC, CPER, CUPM