Here's the latest on Vale Argentina for those who are following that situation.
ARGENTINA: Gov’t Launches Negotiation Process to Protect Mine Workers
Published at 8:13 pm EST, April 19, 2013
Argentina’s government has launched a crisis-negotiation process that temporarily bars Brazilian mining giant Vale from firing workers at its halted potash project.
The Labor Ministry started the process to protect Vale’s employees and contract workers involved in the failed project to develop the Rio Colorado mine, located in the western Argentine province of Mendoza.
The process will last 30 working days and force Vale into talks with its workers. During that time, the company will be barred from carrying out any layoffs or suspensions, while workers may not stage strikes or other job actions.
The ministry said it will call an initial meeting between Vale and its contractors and union representatives and that, if no agreement is reached, an additional negotiating period lasting up to 10 days will follow.
Last month, the ministry ordered a mandatory conciliation process to avoid the dismissal of nearly 3,000 workers involved in the canceled project.
In early March, Vale announced its decision to halt the Rio Colorado megaproject, which President Cristina Fernandez’s government regards as “strategic.”
The decision to cancel the project, in which Vale had already invested $2 billion, affects more than 8,000 workers in Mendoza, Neuquen and Rio Negro provinces.
Vale had initially estimated the total investment cost at $5.9 billion but said cost overruns had driven that price tag up to $10.9 billion.
Vale, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, estimates that Rio Colorado’s potash reserves amount to 430 million tons and its production capacity could total as much as 4.35 million tons annually, which would transform Argentina into the planet’s fifth-largest producer of that crop nutrient.
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