UPDATE 2-Barrick: Strike-hit Tanzania mine 65 pct operational

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By George Obulutsa

NAIROBI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Tanzania's Bulyanhulu gold mine, owned by Canada's Barrick Gold Corp (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), is about 65 percent operational despite a four-week strike, a spokesman for Barrick's Tanzanian arm said on Tuesday.

"When the strike took place, production went as low as 20 percent, but it progressively increased to 65 percent," Teweli K. Teweli, Barrick Tanzania's spokesman, told Reuters by phone from Dar es Salaam.

"Right now there is (gold) production."

Teweli would not elaborate further on how much gold was being produced.

The strike began on Oct. 25 when the firm said about 1,000 of its 1,971 workers had walked off the job in what the world's leading gold producer called an illegal action.

The workers, belonging to Tanzania Mines and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO), went on strike demanding that their grievances on pay, health and risk allowances be addressed.

Teweli said TAMICO had filed an injunction at a Dar es Salaam labour court on Friday to stop Barrick from hiring new workers.