First Quantum halts public tours of closed Panama copper mine
PANAMA CITY - First Quantum Minerals said on Thursday it would suspend public tours of its shuttered copper mine in Panama after the country's president said the Canadian miner should not give the impression that the site is operational.
In a regular press conference earlier on Thursday, President Jose Raul Mulino said there had been no discussion with the company or further progress on resolving the issue of the mine. The government ordered its closure in late 2023 following public protests over environmental concerns.
"I don't want them to give the impression that the mine is operating," he said.
First Quantum's local unit, Cobre Panama, responded several hours later in a social media post.
"We have heard the statements from the National Government and have decided to suspend the public visit program to the mine," the post said.
When asked at the press conference if he would sign a new contract with First Quantum in Panama, Mulino said that possibility could be looked at down the line.
"Everything will be studied, but right now we don't have anyone to study it with," he said. "We hope to cross that bridge when we come to it."
He noted that First Quantum must suspend its arbitration over the mine before the two sides can negotiate next steps, including the export of 120 000 metric tons of copper concentrate left at the site.
Comments
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
From batteries for boats and jet skis, to batteries for cars and quad bikes, SABAT Batteries has positioned itself as the lifestyle battery of...
VISIT SHOWROOM
We are responsible manufacturers of essential components. Manufacturing 80 million parts a week, we have over 1 billion parts in stock.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
