You are a consultant to the Executive Management Committee of Heavy Metal Incorporated (HMI), a large, publicly traded mineral exploration and development corporation with mines on several continents. Due to rising commodity prices, HMI has recently returned to profitability after several lean years including one year of substantial losses due to a mine explosion which resulted in loss of life and closure of the affected mine for six months.
Currently, there are significant strategic issues facing two of HMI’s other mines:
Mine 1. The workers at HMI’s mine in eastern South Australia have been on strike for four months, causing significant harm to the affected workers and local community. The mine and related facilities are not efficient, the wage base of the striking workers is at the high end for the industry and local corporate and employment taxes are also high.