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Aerial views from over the protests in Panama City regarding the expansion of the Cobre Panama mine.
The episode provides a cautionary tale for foreign investors on the vulnerability of mining projects to public hostility and resource nationalism, even in relatively investor-friendly countries such as Panama. It raises questions about the deployment of the billions of dollars in investment that will be required in the decades to come to extract copper and other critical minerals needed for the world to transition away from fossil fuels.
In the two weeks since, the referendum proposal and a push for congress to repeal the contract have both been shelved, as everyone waits to see if the Supreme Court will kill the agreement. Throughout the controversy, the mine — Panama’s largest single private sector investment, generating thousands of jobs and producing about 1.5% of the world’s copper — has continued to operate.
Cobre Panama has also committed to reforesting an area equivalent to almost double the project’s “disturbance footprint” of 5,900 hectares , more than a third of which has already been done, the company said. While Cortizo can’t run for reelection, he’s looking to garner support for his center-left party that’s been polling poorly. Cortizo’s approval rating fell to 19% in October. His party’s candidate for May’s election, Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo, is polling near last with 3% support.
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