Panama City (AFP) – A Panamanian government commission on Wednesday recommended that President Jose Raul Mulino reactivate Central America’s largest open-pit copper mine, a Canadian-owned operation that was shut down in 2023 following widespread protests. The mine’s operator, First Quantum Minerals, is seeking some $27 billion, 30 percent of Panama’s GDP, in damages over the closure, according to the commission. The company has temporarily suspended the legal proceedings pending a final government decision on its reopening.
The commission, composed of several ministers, said the mine should be reopened to help finance an orderly closure that could take years. “An operation of this scale is not closed in a year or five,” said Commerce Minister Julio Molto. Finance Minister Felipe Chapman acknowledged that the threat of the litigation weighed heavily on the commission’s recommendations. “Any decision regarding the mine is made with that file (the lawsuit) open on the table,” he said.
The Cobra Panama mine accounted for 75 percent of Panama’s exports and 5 percent of its GDP. The Supreme Court in 2023 declared the mining concession unconstitutional because it violated environmental and public bidding regulations. The decision came after weeks of anti-mining protests that had paralyzed much of the Central American country. Three years later, however, some residents of areas near the mine are calling for its reopening, arguing the closure cost the region thousands of jobs.
Mulino noted that more than 6,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs were lost. He said he would take time to study the commission’s recommendations in order to not “repeat the mistake of deciding in four days on an issue that this country will bear for decades.”
© 2024 AFP
