By Dave Sherwood
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Unionised workers at BHP Billiton's (L:BLT) (AX:BHP) Spence copper mine in northern Chile have approved a new labour contract, union president Ronald Salcedo said on Monday.
Spence is one of the Anglo-Australian miner two mines in Chile. The other, Escondida, the world' largest copper mine, earlier this month entered into labour negotiations following a historic strike that shut down the mine for 44 days last year, depriving BHP of $1 billion (748.6 million pounds) in production.
Salcedo said the 36-month contract at Spence, which includes a one-time bonus of nearly $21,500 per worker, was approved by 87 percent of the union's approximately 900 members.
The deal also includes a 2 percent increase over current base salaries, Salcedo said.
BHP is spending $2.46 billion (1.8 billion pounds) to extend the life of Spence by more than 50 years, creating up to 5,000 jobs and bringing new output online from 2021.
Spence produced 198,600 tonnes of copper in 2017.