Panama President exploring ‘novel ideas’ on First Quantum mine
Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said his government is exploring “novel ideas” on handling First Quantum Minerals’s giant copper mine in the country and reiterated that the firm must drop its arbitration cases against Panama.
Speaking to reporters in Panama City Thursday, Mulino said he will visit towns near the mine that have been affected by its closure. He said he met with suppliers to the mine this week, many of whom have shut down or written off large amounts of inventory since the late-2023 closure following a constitutional court ruling against its operating contract.
“The situation is sad and depressing, the state they are in,” Mulino said of the suppliers. “Overnight, someone flipped a switch and the mine was turned off. In part, what Panama is suffering is the absence of the source of employment and the generation of wealth that the mine provided.”
Mulino reiterated that First Quantum must drop arbitration before talks can begin on the Cobre Panama mine, which represents 5% of the country’s gross domestic product and accounted for about 40% of First Quantum’s revenue. An tribunal at the International Chamber of Commerce scheduled a final hearing on the mine for February 2026.
Mulino said he and his closest advisors are exploring “novel ideas on changing the framework of what the mine was to what the mine can be.”
First Quantum declined to comment.
The president will begin dealing with the mine as soon as social security reform — which is in “the final stretch” is settled in Congress, he said.
“At a government institution level, we are discussing what we are going to do with the mine,” Mulino said. “It’s a very, very complex topic. Have faith that, once social security is over, we are going to deal with the mine.”
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