DENVER (AP) -- Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. said Wednesday workers at its Peruvian copper mine have canceled a planned strike as negotiations continue between the global copper producer and the union.

Union officials previously said they would strike Wednesday if no agreement had been reached but that was suspended, company spokesman Eric Kinneberg said. He declined to be specific about the issues under negotiation.

Phoenix-based Freeport-McMoRan mines copper, gold and molybdenum around the world, and its mine in Peru is about 20 miles southwest of Arequipa in the southern region of the country.

The Peruvian mining industry has been plagued by labor problems as thousands of union workers have sought a bigger share of profits because of record prices for precious metals.

The country's largest mining union, the National Federation of Mining, Metallurgy and Steel Workers, on July 7 suspended a weeklong strike against after the government said it would re-examine miners' pensions and congress said it would reconsider a law limiting miners' portion of shared profits to 8 percent.

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