Panama to talk with First Quantum over environmental impacts of copper mine

The government of Panama reported that it will begin talks with Canadian company First Quantum Minerals to discuss the environmental impacts of its Cobre Panamá mine, which has been closed since the end of 2023.

Within the framework of the Council of the Americas held in Washington, Panama's minister of foreign affairs, Javier Martínez-Acha, said that it may be necessary to temporarily reopen the mine to prepare responsibly for its definitive closure, Bloomberg reported.

“From an environmental point of view, it needs to be addressed in the coming months,” Martínez-Acha said. “I can't say how many months, but we will be responsible and we will maintain dialogue with the Canadians,” he added.

“You cannot leave an open pit mine in those conditions. We are a responsible country and we will speak to the Canadian investors when the time comes.”

President Raúl Mulino recently ordered a “strict environmental audit” to help determine whether the site can be temporarily reopened.

Authorities and experts have warned of the environmental and safety risks of keeping more than 130,000t of copper concentrate stored at the Minera Panamá facilities due to the impossibility of exporting or processing it.

For this reason, they called for the authorization of minimal operations in a report published in May.

Last February, former president Laurentino Cortizo's government approved a strategy for the orderly and definitive closure of the mine, a process with an estimated cost of between US$800 million and US$1 billion, and taking seven to nine years, according to official information.

Although the government and First Quantum Minerals local subsidiary Minera Panamá reached a new agreement on a new contract for the copper and gold mine last year after the original contract was declared unconstitutional in 2017, widespread protests against the agreement for environmental reasons led the country's supreme court to cancel it, resulting in the order to shutter the open pit mine.

In response, seven arbitration claims have been filed by suppliers and investors, amounting to US$57bn in claims, with First Quantum demanding US$20bn for the closure in the International Court of Arbitration in Miami. It has also expressed its intention to initiate other legal actions based on trade agreements with Canada and South Korea.