A strike that began Thursday morning at Peru's third-biggest copper miner, Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde SA (CVERDEC1.VL), has not materially hurt production, a company spokesperson said.

"Cerro Verde is operating the facility with [supervisors] and personnel that volunteered to work under strike conditions," said Eric Kinneberg, director of external communications for U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX).

Freeport has a majority stake in Cerro Verde. Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN, BUENAVC1.VL) and a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corp. (SSUMY, 8053.TO) also have an interest in the company.

Unionized workers at Cerro Verde walked out Thursday to demand higher pay as negotiations for a new collective agreement failed. The strike is the third time workers have walked out this month.

"We will continue negotiating a new labor contract to replace the one that expired on August 31, 2011," Kinneberg said in an email.

Cerro Verde mines in southern Peru's Arequipa region. It produced 345 million pounds of copper in the first half of this year, up from 331 million pounds in the same period in 2010.

-By Ryan Dube, Dow Jones Newswires; 51-945 043 802; peru@dowjones.com

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