The Panama Copper Mine is set to be Audited by a French Company
This audit, according to the government, “represents an essential mechanism for the Panamanian State to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the sustainable use of natural resources.
Panama’s Ministry of Environment reported this Friday that it has begun a “comprehensive audit” of the large open-pit mine, operated by First Quantum Minerals (FQM), which has been closed since November 2023 by court order following a historic wave of protests. The French company SGS, dedicated to auditing, inspection, and certification services globally, is responsible for auditing the Cobre Panamá mine over a six-month period, “plus two months for liquidation,” for a total of $539,791.46, according to official information.
Thus, it must “conduct this comprehensive audit using a structured, detailed, and organized approach, ensuring that auditors pay attention to critical areas for the labor, social, environmental, and operational management of the project,” the Ministry of Environment statement states. This audit, according to the government, “represents an essential mechanism for the Panamanian State to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the sustainable use of natural resources, the determination of economic and social contributions, environmental protection, and the defense of national interests.” In November 2023, the Supreme Court of Justice declared the concession contract for the Cobre Panamá mine, an investment of around $10 billion according to official data, unconstitutional after a wave of anti-mining protests, thus disabling it.
After the closure of operations, the then government of Laurentino Cortizo (2019-2024) and the company developed a preservation plan that went into effect in May of this year. But some 120,000 tons of copper concentrate remained inside, which have been exported by ship since last July. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced last March that he had authorized both the export of copper concentrate and the import of coal from Medellín, Colombia, to reactivate a 300-megawatt thermoelectric plant and incorporate its production into the entity that supplies the country’s energy.
Similarly, the large Canadian mining company suspended several multi-million-dollar arbitration lawsuits against the Panamanian government, a condition set by the Panamanian president to begin talks on the mine’s future, the commencement of which has not been reported. Mulino, who has repeatedly highlighted the economic blow that the mine’s closure has meant for the country, aspires to a “real partnership” with the Canadian mining company as a way to eventually revive the project, which represented almost 5% of Panama’s gross domestic product (GDP) and generated nearly 7,000 direct jobs and more than 30,000 indirect jobs.
