Uncertainty dogs Panama copper mine

Canadian firm First Quantum Minerals says it is staying the course on its new $6bn copper mine in Panama ahead of incoming president Laurentino Cortizo's plan to review the concession contract next month.

Minera Panama is the biggest foreign investment in the country, the outgoing government of President Juan Carlos Varela says.

Minera Panama, a subsidiary of First Quantum, started grinding in March 2019, and said it "remains on track to produce 140,000t-175,000t in 2019 "with more than 80pc of production expected in the second half of the year."

It projects over 300,000t of annual copper production in coming years. The project is also forecast to produce 2,500 t/yr of molybdenum and 100,000 oz/yr of gold, First Quantum said.

The 13,600-hectare open-pit Cobre Panama mine located 120km west of Panama City in the district of Donoso, Colon province.

Neither First Quantum nor Minera Panama has commented on Cortizo's plan to review the project's contract in July, after the economy and finance committee of the National Assembly rejected the contract between the company and the government, asserting that royalty payments are too low.

The government has a right to review all contracts, Cortizo said in early June.

Cortizo will take office on 1 July after winning a 5 May election.

The Missy Enterprise departed the Punta Rincon port at Cobre Panama on 19 June with 31,377t of copper concentrate, First Quantum Minerals said.

The Clarke Quay has already docked at the Cobre Panama port and will be loading approximately 44,000t "over the next few days…and ongoing vessels are expected every 2-3 weeks," the company said, without indicating the destination of the ships.

Minera Panama will continue to develop the Cobre Panama project because it is covered by current legislation, as well as by international investment protection treaties, the firm has said.

The project has been under a cloud since Panama's supreme court ruled in September 2018 that the law under which the 35-year concession was granted in February 1996 is unconstitutional.

But the commerce ministry said that ruling has not been enforced as it is still awaiting a response from the supreme court to its request for clarification.

The Cobre Panama project includes a 300MW coal power plant supplied with Colombian coal. About 200MW is used by the mining complex, and 100MW sold to state-owned grid operator Etesa.