BUENOS AIRES -(Dow Jones)- Argentina's mine workers union and mining chamber reached a wage accord for sharp salary increases this year, local industry magazine Mining Press reported Wednesday.
Workers at Barrick Gold Corp's (NYSE:ABX) (ABX) Veledero mine will receive a wage hike of between 24% and 28%, while AngloGold Ashanti's (Johannesburg:ANG) (ANG.JO) Cerro Vanguardia mine will pay 31.1% more, Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp's (NYSE:CDE) (CDE) Mina Martha 31.1% more, Minera Andes Inc.'s (Toronto:MAI) (MAI) San Jose 20% more and Rio Tinto Plc's (NYSE:RTP) (RTP) Rio Colorado 18% more, according to Mining Press.
The salary agreements cover 12,000 workers, or 80% of Argentina's miners, according to the report.
The salary increases follow sharp inflation over the past year.
Earlier this month, Torcuato Di Tella University reported that the average projection for 12-month-out inflation in its monthly consumer survey came in at a record 32.8% in April, with the median at 25%. The result reflected the effect of food shortages during last month's three-week farm strike. The government's March consumer price index showed an 8.8% annual increase, but the official numbers are widely discredited by economists as underreporting true inflation figures.
-By Shane Romig, Dow Jones Newswires; 54-11-4314-2757; shane.romig@ dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires 04-23-08 1622 Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
