Battered Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) is bracing for a rocky road ahead as Panama moves to strike down its contract to operate one of the world's largest copper mines.
View of the Cobre Panama mine, of Canadian First Quantum Minerals, in Donoso, Panama, December 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aris Martínez/File Photois bracing for a rocky road ahead as Panama moves to strike down its contract to operate one of the world's largest copper mines.
The government is also promoting a bill in Congress to overrule the law enacting the contract and ban all future concessions. Panama's top court has also agreed to consider six lawsuits challenging the contract. Panama should not be "sold for a few cents," said protester Adriana Linares. "People on the street have a very clear objective, which is to strike down the approved contract."
The mine, which opened in 2019, accounts for 1% of global copper production and cost $11 billion to build. It is considered important to the global energy transition because of its long life of at least 20 years, with copper being an important metal in making electric-vehicle batteries."This process is not following any playbook that we have seen before." said Jackie Przybylowski, a mining analyst with Bank of Montreal.
"The timing has been highly unfavorable," former Finance and Economy Minister Frank De Lima told Reuters, adding the scenario could be different if it was not for the upcoming election. Another independent lawmaker, Edison Broce, told Reuters that open-pit metal mining is damaging to Panama's environment, and it should focus on boosting its tourism industry.
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