After months of uncertainty over the future of Cobre Panamá, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s copper mine that was ordered to shut down following a 2023 ruling by Panama’s Supreme Court, the Panamanian government subsequently commissioned a comprehensive audit of the mine and established an interministerial commission to review its findings and recommend a path forward. On September 30, the commission submitted its final report and recommendations to President José Raúl Mulino, who now has the final say on what happens next.
The report includes seventeen recommendations. The first recommendation is for the authorization of the formal opening of negotiations with Cobre Panamá / First Quantum to assess the feasibility of a new agreement that would allow the pending international arbitrations to be ended. This action would also establish the conditions for a project to be put into operation that can achieve an orderly closure, at no cost to the nation and with no possibility of extension, while giving absolute priority to the nation’s environmental, social and economic interests, ensuring full transparency and complying with the Supreme Court of Justice ruling and seeking the benefit of all Panamanians.
The report also recommends that any future framework requires that the resources generated by the site be administered transparently and translated into tangible, identifiable benefits for citizens; creates a mechanism that allocates resources to an environmental plan with a fixed, automatic, and irrevocable allocation from the state’s share of site revenue; instructs the adoption of an institutional framework with genuine autonomy that incorporates good governance practices, professional management, transparency and long-term planning; requires the instruments to ensure that technical management remains insulated from short-term political cycles; and requires the final termination of the pending international arbitrations as a mandatory condition for the implementation of any agreement.
First Quantum said it “recognizes that a new agreement must respect Panama’s sovereignty, democratic institutions and the Government-led process.” The company also said it “recognizes that responsible environmental management and stewardship of Cobre Panamá is central to First Quantum’s priorities for the mine.”
The commission’s report does not itself authorize Cobre Panamá to reopen, and the audit/recommendations now sit with the president. Until then, Cobre Panamá remains closed to new mining activity.
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