Operators of a giant copper mine in Indonesia are weighing their options as hundreds of striking miners blockade roads, keeping food and supplies from reaching the operation.

Work at the Freeport-McRohan mine in eastern Papua province was virtually halted after suspected saboteurs on Monday damaged a pipeline carrying copper concentrate to the coast.

Company officials said Tuesday the pipeline had been repaired and that some copper concentrate was moving through it. But officials still are considering a controlled shutdown in the face of rising violence which saw three substitute workers killed last week.

Employee Syamsudin Badu said the workers have to be escorted by security personnel when they go to the city.

He said no one seems to care if they are killed.

Company spokesman Sinta Sirait admitted the shooting and the roadblock have raised tensions at the mine.

But he said the rupture of the pipeline was the main reason production has been delayed so far.

The striking miners say they will continue their month-old work stoppage, which is affecting world copper prices, until the company agrees to pay them at the same rates it pays its workers in other countries.

Analysts say that will be difficult for the company because of the high costs of working in the remote area, which is also home to a low-level insurgency.