Panama’s Mining Issue Must be Addressed with the People

The designated Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Navarro, who will take office on July 1, reaffirmed that the decision of the new head of state in the isthmus, José Raúl Mulino, is to open the mine and then close it definitively, something that he demanded the people in the streets in October and November of last year. 

If the country decides to go for mining development again, it is necessary to redefine the conception of that sphere at an environmental, social, legal and political level, in order to have “clearer rules” that facilitate the reopening and others that may begin in the canal nation.  “Today’s world needs minerals for its energy transition and digitalization process, and one of those minerals is copper, which is key in the development of renewable energies,” he explained.  For his part, the former Chilean ambassador to Panama, Francisco Cruz, who has closely followed the evolution of the copper mine, believes that the protests that broke out at the end of 2023 were the product of the accumulation of “social unrest” that found relief in the anti-mining cause.  “After nearly six months of those events, it is clear that the country must make decisions in this regard, given that inaction is not action,” he indicated. 

He also indicated that it will be up to the new authorities to analyze the new circumstances to determine if it is possible to build a new understanding about mining, perhaps an understanding that can go through different aspects, what cannot change is the fact that “the State is the obvious owner of all the mining projects carried out, not the company in power, he noted.  When asked about the factors that should cement this new understanding, Cruz explained that the financial impact it produces must be analyzed and an attempt should be made to link the mining concept with a new paradigm.  “Mining cannot be an end in itself, but rather a means to achieve development,” he stressed. 

Experts agree that another important point is that building citizen trust involves generating a robust political, institutional and constitutional framework, which is independent of political pressures and ideas, to regulate mining processes.  In that sense, Cruz stressed that Panama’s problem is that it tried to generate its legal and technical regulatory framework, in parallel with the approval of mining concessions. 

Since the end of November 2023, Minera Panamá has stored more than 130 thousand tons of copper concentrate, without determining its final destination, which generates serious damage to the environment, in addition to not representing necessary income for the country.