Reuters leads the saga of Chile's longest-running copper mine

Throughout November and into this month, copper traders have been riveted to the month-long strike at the world’s No. 3 copper mine, Chile’s Collahuasi, particularly with markets jittery over supply disruptions amid record-high copper prices. While it may not have been a market-mover on every day, it was an important, precedent-setting event in the world’s biggest producer, and Reuters dominated the field in covering every major twist and turn. Reuters was ahead: by 4 days on news in late October that miners were clamoring for strike action over pay and benefits, by 2-1/2 hours ahead of Bloomberg in reporting that workers would go on strike, a supply threat that boosted copper prices, by 25 minutes the following day with the actual start of the strike, by hours as two other mines settled wage deals separately, by days in reporting from sources at the site that a deal was imminent , by 18 minutes with news strikers were set to vote on a deal agreed with management — the first concrete sign the strike was coming to an end and ahead again when the union voted to accept the latest offer and end the 32-day strike, and ahead when the strike ended on Dec. 7.