<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Santiago, Chile</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By Eric Anderson<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">4.9.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>After an extended strike slammed fruit, copper and other shipments, most ports in Chile returned to normal operations, but the central port of San Antonio remained closed, according to Reuters.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">A union leader said that workers at the key port of Angamos in the mineral-rich north returned to work on Saturday as of 3:30 p.m. local time.<img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/chilean-exprt-april-9-2013-cropped.jpg" alt="images040813" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Because of the congestion in ports, mining industry sources say it will take weeks to return to normal shipping operations. Other Chilean ports had joined the strike in Angamos, which started roughly three weeks ago.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Angamos workers walked off the job to seek a 30-minute lunch break and other benefits. That dispute over relatively minor issues escalated into a crisis for the export-dependent nation.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The stoppage proved a major headache for many of Chile's miners, who extract roughly a third of the world's copper. The metal provides around 60 percent of Chile's export revenue, estimated at $79.8 billion this year.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The strike halted around 9,000 tonnes of copper from leaving Chilean ports every day, the government has said.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">According to Chile’s business chamber, the country lost more than $200 million a day due to the conflict, as reported by Reuters.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/07/chile-port-sanantonio-idUSL2N0CU06X20130407" target="_new">Port Update</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
