Prospect of copper mine reopening revives tensions in Panama
By AFP
Published March 21, 2025
Francisco Jara
Piles of copper concentrate from a Canadian-owned mine closed by the Panama courts in 2023 sit on the shores of the Caribbean Sea and are now approved for export, to the dismay of environmentalists.
A red and white chimney serves as a beacon for ships, but none have docked for more than a year at the Cobre Panama mine, which had been operated since February 2019 by Canada’s First Quantum Minerals.
Earlier this month, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino announced that he had authorized the firm to export the copper concentrate it had already extracted before Central America’s largest open-pit mine was shut. Around 130,000 tons of it are stored in a huge shed near the dock.
In response, the mine operator signaled that it was ready to suspend multibillion-dollar arbitration proceedings against Panama over the closure.
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