In northern Chile, miners ask government to curb crime, robberies

FILE PHOTO: A view of a brine pools of a lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat in the Atacama desert, Chile August 16, 2018.REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The mining industry in Chile, the world's largest copper producer, on Tuesday called on the government to take action to stop an "escalation of crime" that has hit operations in the country's far north.

The call comes after the robbery last week of some 500 ounces of gold worth the equivalent of $1 million from the premises of a company, in addition to attempts to rob copper trucks and a train transporting copper cathodes, according to the National Mining Society (Sonami).