SANTIAGO, May 4 (Reuters) - Chile's Codelco said on Sunday it had again suspended work at the world's largest underground copper mine, citing renewed violence by striking subcontract workers who began their labor protest 19 days ago.

Codelco suspended the morning shift at the mine after striking workers pelted buses carrying full time miners with rocks overnight. It had only reopened the mine on Saturday, amid signs the strike would soon lift.

"There were incidents last night," a Codelco official said on condition of anonymity. "We will decide how to progress from here during the day."

Codelco, which produces around 1.7 million tonnes of copper a year, said on Tuesday it had lost about 19,000 tonnes of production due to the strike, or around $100 million in losses. (Reporting by Manuel Farias; Writing by Simon Gardner)

AlertNet news is provided by