Chile's government said this week it would allow the company to retain 30% of its profits from last year to help finance an ambitious investment plan until the end of the decade.

The mining firm is facing global clients and investors increasingly focused on environmental concerns.

The Tranquilla, Batuco and Cuncumén communities are still looking for compensation following a leak in a pipeline at the mine’s concentrator plant.

While Fenix meets the environmental regulations and requirements, it didn’t provide enough information on how it aims to eliminate the “adverse impacts” that the project will have on the area’s wildlife species.

More than 60% of ancestral Shuar territory, spread over 568,000 acres, is covered by mining concessions.

The Federation of Copper Workers started the strike early Wednesday morning.

The blockade signaled a new conflict just two weeks after the mining firm resumed operations.