Mine closure could cost hundreds of millions of dollars

The closure of the Donoso Copper Mine would entail costs that exceed hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years, according to the Minister of Commerce and Industries, Jorge Rivera Staff.

“In these cases, due to the size of the project and the international estimates that are used as references for other similar mine closures, the development and cost of the plan alone could be around 1 to 1.5 million dollars. A closure process “For a mine like this that has a duration, we could be talking about years. It could be 5 or 7 years. That is also part of the definition that we need to make with this panel of experts,” said Staff.

He highlighted that there are several alternatives to assume the costs of closing the mine in Donoso, among them, whether they are assumed by the company responsible for it or by the Panamanian State.

“Let us remember that we are in a very particular circumstance, but in a normal circumstance, mine closures are paid for by the company that has a concession. This had been going on for years before the mine closure began due to the depletion of the deposits. The companies ” start by making a reserve from a fund. This is not part of the case,” he added.

The activation of the state of environmental preservation is important so that these infrastructures are not left and the tasks that must be carried out while we begin the preparation of the closure plan, Above all, the environmental and safety guarantees of the facilities are maintained,” said Staff, given the concern of some people that the mine facilities in Donoso end up in the same conditions as the mine in Cerro Quema.

With respect to mining Cerro Quema  S.A. , the minister highlighted that the Ministry of Commerce and Industries proceeded to execute the ruling of Law 407 of moratorium and they have been notified of the cancellation of the requests that they had presented to the representatives, who have all the resources that the Law places them at their disposal to present actions.